From The Bellingham Herald:
The Willows Inn, luxury restaurant on Lummi Island, caught underpaying staff in labor investigation
The Willows Inn, a world-class restaurant on Lummi Island, violated federal labor laws by underpaying kitchen staff and requiring trainees to work for free in a month-long tryout for a job, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The upscale inn has earned glowing reviews from food critics for its luxurious, fresh, homegrown menu since 2011, when The New York Times named it one of “10 Restaurants Worth a Plane Ride.” To reach the Willows it takes a five-minute ferry ride across from the Lummi Peninsula, too, a journey that has become a pilgrimage for those willing to spend more than $200 per person for a 15-course meal.
Over the past two years, however, the restaurant has broken federal labor laws by underpaying staff, or having interns work menial jobs such as painting the buildings, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.
“The restaurant required entry-level kitchen staff known in the industry as ‘stages’ to work one month as a free try-out period before they were considered for paid employment,” according to a news release from the federal agency. “Once on the payroll, the kitchen workers were paid daily rates from $50 per day for up to 14 hours per day with no consideration of weekly overtime premium.”
At The Willows Inn, stages – pronounced staahj, from the French word stagiaire – would clean dishes, polish silverware, collect herbs, prepare vegetables, assemble dishes, clean the facilities, and paint the exterior of the buildings, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. It’s common practice at high-end restaurants, though it’s illegal under U.S. labor laws, said Jeannette Aranda, director of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division office in Seattle.
The key problem is that normally, stages are working closely with the chef and are there to learn from them - this way, the chef can see if the applicant will fit in with the culture of the restaurant. Stages at The Willows Inn were expected to do drudge-work - washing dishes, painting the buildings, etc...
