GRA Weekly

October 24, 2021

This week's newsletter is brought to you by US Foods.

FEDERAL UPDATES

With Movement on OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard, Association Reaches out to OMB

In response to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration submitting its Emergency Temporary Standard to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last week, the Association sent a letter to OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) expressing the perspective of the restaurant and foodservice industry and sharing concerns about the impending rule. The letter was followed by a meeting with representatives from OIRA, OSHA, Department of Labor (DOL) and the Small Business Administration in which the Association reiterated the need for a 90-day implementation period to allow employers to develop the necessary process and systems and educate the workforce on the requirements, with a corresponding delay in enforcement actions. Once the rule, which requires employees (of businesses with 100+ employees) to be vaccinated or tested frequently for COVID-19, is published in the Federal Register, Association staff will develop resources including a webinar to help members become compliant.

Vaccine mandates will also be the focus of an upcoming joint congressional hearing of the House Committee on Education and Labor’s Subcommittees on Workforce Protections and Civil Rights and Human Services titled “Protecting Lives and Livelihoods: Vaccine Requirements and Employee Accommodations” on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, at 10:15 a.m. ET.

DHS Issues Announcement on Worksite Enforcement of Undocumented Workers

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a new Worksite Enforcement guidance last week related to undocumented workers on job sites. DHS has indicated that it will no longer conduct large scale worksite raids but will be working with undocumented workers to identify bad actor employers and plans to provide protections for workers who cooperate in investigating alleged workplace violations.

Shannon Meade, Association vice president of Public Policy and Legal Advocacy notes that the guidance is not official policy but rather an announcement of intent to craft policies and present them at a later date.

DHS and the Department of Labor will be investigating how to collaborate to allow DHS to involve DOL in enforcement actions brought by undocumented workers against employers. Additionally, they will attempt to expand the concept of “exploitive” employer behavior to encompass all kinds of labor-related issues – from minimum wage/wage violations, to OSHA violations, to COVID-19 protocol issues, to employee misclassification issues. Further, undocumented workers who submit grievances against employers related to these violations will be offered deferred proceedings, essentially guaranteeing that the undocumented workers cannot be deported while those cases are pending.

White House Task Force Meeting Hears from Industry on Supply Chain Disruption

Last week, the National Restaurant Association participated in a meeting with the White House Supply Chain Disruption Task Force to discuss supply chain issues specifically affecting meat and poultry products. Led by Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the Task Force is to provide a whole-of-government response to address supply chain challenges and to take actions to minimize the impacts of such disruptions on workers, consumers, and businesses.

RAISING THE BAR

Raising the Bar: Measuring Your Food Safety Program, Now and As You Grow

You've taken the time to develop your food safety program. Now it's time to see how you're delivering on your plan. Measuring performance is where the rubber meets the road – and it's also where many food safety programs fail. In this second of a two-part collaborative series with the National Restaurant Association, Steritech's Chris Boyles and Paula Herald will walk through strategies for measuring performance and practical advice for implementing them in your restaurant.

Attendees will take away key learnings such as:

The power of self-assessments
The pros and cons of internal audits and third-party assessments
4 goal setting tactics to drive action
How to make huge program shifts using the performance bell-curve
Where to assign ownership of food safety in the organization
What it takes to maintain a program over the long haul

Thursday, October 28 | Register here.

GEORGIA GROWN | MEDIA REQUEST

Doc Lawrence is writing a magazine feature about Georgia fish and seafood which is so wonderful during the cooler months. This will encompass sources both commercial and recreational sources including but not limited to Harvests from the Atlantic: Sapelo Island clams; Georgia wild white shrimp; seafood packing industries, shrimp fleets, oyster harvesting as well as Inland: Commercial trout, catfish farms, others that grow and sell. He is also looking for original recipes from home cooks and restaurants, i.e. fried, broiled, baked, grilled. Plus, imaginative soups, chowders, gumbos, salads, and more. He'll give proper credit, include many photos and make the story "delicious." Mountain trout, oysters, shrimp, scallops, catfish, bass, perch, spiny lobster, etc., you name it. Trout and catfish commercial sources, favorites from fly fishing experts, shrimp boat families, oyster harvesting and more. The feature will appear in the winter issue of Georgia Connector Magazine www.georgiaconnector.com. His deadline is Oct. 30. Please share this with anyone who fits his request. Respond directly to Doc at doclawrence@mindspring.com.

ALUMINUM TO-GO CUPS

Aluminum To-go Cups Growing in Savannah

The Georgia Restaurant Association is proud to support Savannah and the 13 businesses who have decided to incorporate aluminum to-go cups in lieu of paper and plastic cups. We encourage more Savannah restaurants to consider participating in this program. For more information and testimonies from businesses who are participating, please read the article from Savannah Now.

ERC PAYROLL TAX REFUND WEBINAR

Maximizing the ERC Payroll Tax Refund Webinar

Please join us Thursday, October 28th at 10:00AM, for an overview of the Covid-19 Employee Retention Credit and how your restaurant can make the most out of this beneficial program. We’ll review the two tests for eligibility as well as what wages may qualify. If you think your restaurant may be eligible but don’t know where to start, this is your opportunity to get those questions answered.

Thursday, October 28th | 10:00AM

CITY OF ATLANTA

City of Atlanta proposes Sunday Closure of Peachtree Street starting September 18, 2022

Atlanta City

Council Members Amir Farokhi, Andre Dickens, Michael Julian Bond, Jennifer Ide, Natalyn Archibong, and Matt Westmoreland have proposed legislation that would close Peachtree Street from Trinity Avenue SW and 17th Street (Fulton County Courthouse to 1 block further than the High Museum & Woodruff Arts Center) every Sunday from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. beginning on September 18, 2022. There would be exception for Easter, the second Sunday in October, and when the following City Holidays occur on a Sunday: Juneteenth, Independence Day, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

There are concerns about public safety and a general loss of business if Peachtree Street was closed. Supporters believe the closure could lead to a healthier, sustainable way to travel through the heart of Atlanta and hope to create more Atlanta Streets Alive events. To voice your opinion on this issue, you can go to https://citycouncil.atlantaga.gov/ to speak to any and all Atlanta Councilmembers. You can also reach out to the GRA Director of Advocacy Daniel New for additional information.