City of Chicago Issues Rules Requiring Transparency from Third Party Delivery Services
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Today, Mayor Lightfoot and Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) Commissioner Rosa Escareno announced new rules for third-party food delivery companies to increase transparency and fair competition. We appreciate Mayor Lightfoot and BACP for working with the IRA to develop these rules.
Click here
to read the full announcement.
Effective Friday, May 22, all third-party delivery companies will be required to disclose to the customer an itemized cost breakdown of each transaction, including the menu price of the food, any sales or other tax, delivery charge and tip, and any commission or service fee paid by the restaurant to the third-party delivery company.
Click here
to read the rules.
The IRA fully supports these rules as an important step to bring much-needed transparency and fairness to the food delivery space.
Read more below:
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House Democrats Introduce $3 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Package, PPP Program Fixes to Help Restaurants
Today, House Democrats announced a bill to amend the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that includes several necessary changes to the program that would benefit restaurants.
The bill is a House Democratic Leadership marker bill to communicate to Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration for the negotiating table, which could be sometime in mid-June. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said the bill, in its current form, is "dead on arrival" in the Senate.
Below is a summary of the bill in consideration.
Click here
to read the bill text, which starts on page 821.
- Extension of the program from June 30 to December 31 with Dec. 31st as the new deadline for rehiring for forgiveness purposes.
- Improves loan terms from current 2 years to new 5 year floor to amortize loans over a longer period of time, which lowers monthly payments
- Clarifies that PPP loans cannot be calculated on a compound basis, saving borrowers money over the long-term;
- Modifications to PPP Funds, including
- A carve out of 25% of the existing funds on the date of enactment to be used specifically for small businesses with 10 or fewer employees to guarantee they are fully able to access PPP assistance;
- Establishes an additional set aside of existing funds of the lesser of 25% or $10 billion specifically for community financial institutions, such as Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Minority Development Institutions (MDIs), SBA microlenders, and SBA Certified Development Companies (CDCs); and
- Extends the covered loan period from 8 weeks to 24 weeks
- Creates a safe harbor for borrowers who cannot rehire due to the inability to rehire in the prescribed timeframe;
- Eliminates the 75/25 rule on use of loan proceeds for non-payroll expenses
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City of Chicago Fair Workweek Rules Issued
The Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) has posted rules for the implementation of Chicago's Fair Workweek ordinance that goes into effect July 1, 2020. Restaurants with less than 250 employees
and
less than 30 global locations are exempt from this ordinance.
Click here
to read the rules.
Yesterday, the Chicago City Council Committee on Workforce Development approved an ordinance that would postpone until January 1, 2021 the “private cause of action” section of Chicago's Fair Workweek law that allows aggrieved workers whose schedules are changed without adequate notice or compensation to file their own lawsuits.
Click here
to read the ordinance.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRA and other business groups have urged the city of Chicago to delay the implementation of the Fair Workweek ordinance. The following rules in relation to the pandemic were issued today.
- The schedule change provisions of the Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance do not apply when a Work Schedule change is because of a pandemic. For purposes of this rulemaking, the current COVID-19 outbreak qualifies as a “pandemic” under the ordinance. The Commissioner finds that a pandemic commenced upon the promulgation of Emergency Executive Order No. 2020-1 and will remain in place until it is repealed.
- The Department will consider a Work Schedule change to be “because” of the pandemic only when the pandemic causes the Employer to materially change its operating hours, operating plan, or the goods or services provided by the Employer, which results in the Work Schedule change. The pandemic exception only applies in the Work Schedule during which the event changes the Work Schedule and the Work Schedule immediately following.
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Updated City of Chicago Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave Rules
The Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) has released updated minimum wage and paid sick leave rules that align with the city's
$15 minimum wage ordinance
.
There are no substantive changes to the city's minimum wage or paid sick leave rules that adversely impact restaurants. Three important changes of note for restaurant operations:
- Employer Payment of Difference As Soon As Is Practicable When Wages Plus Tips Do Not Equal Minimum Wage
- Previously, if an employee's wages plus tips did not equal at least the number of hours worked times the applicable City minimum wage, the employer was required to make up the difference.
- In the new rules, if an employee's wages plus tips did not equal at least the number of hours worked times the applicable City minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference as soon as is practicable, no later than the next regularly-scheduled pay period.
- Posting the Notice
- Previously, employers were required to post a paper version of the minimum wage notice at their place of business.
- In the new rules, employers are required to post the notice through the employers’ usual methods of communication for such notices, whether by paper posting or by electronic dissemination through the employers’ internal communication channels.
- Notice with First Paycheck
- Previously, employers were required to provide employees with a paper version of their rights under the minimum wage ordinance with their first paycheck.
- In the new rules, where employees are enrolled in direct deposit and do not receive a “paycheck” but have the option to review their pay stubs electronically, employers may provide the notice to employees through the employers’ usual methods of electronic communication including but not limited to electronic mail and dissemination through internal communication channels.
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Send a Message to Fix Restore Illinois and Save Restaurants
Under the current
Restore Illinois
plan, restaurants and bars throughout the state will be unable to resume dine in operations until June 26 at the very earliest. This approach underestimates the restaurant industry’s ability to reopen and operate safely with enhanced public health measures in place.
Send a message
to the Governor and leaders in the General Assembly to urge them to allow restaurants to resume dine in operations with limited capacity during Phase 3.
Click here
to watch a video message from IRA President & CEO Sam Toia, and share it with your network.
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Tell the University of Chicago How COVID-19 Has Impacted Your Business
The University of Chicago is reaching out to business owners to take a short and confidential survey about how small businesses have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Your feedback can help improve the types of assistance that city and state government agencies provide to help businesses like yours survive and recover from this crisis.
To thank you for your response, you will be entered into a lottery for the chance to win one of ten $500 prizes.
Click here
to take this 10-minute survey.
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AT&T Works with IRA to Provide Meals to Chicago Police Department
During this National Police Week, AT&T is recognizing police officers’ service and sacrifice with support to the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, which is providing meals to 6,000 Chicago Police Department (CPD) officers on the street and on duty across every police district in the city.
The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation provided meals to each district from IRA member restaurants across the city.
The IRA commends AT&T team for honoring Chicago’s law enforcement professionals, while supporting our local restaurants, at a time when they need it the most.
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Please
visit our website
for the latest COVID-19 updates, in addition to the above resources and information for your business. Updated as of 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12.
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