Restaurateur: Stephane Bombet
Restaurant: Terrine
Reaction: "In our restaurants no one is paid minimum wage. We respect our employees and help them grow in our organization by giving them access to better positions so they can make more money. However, our net margins are less than 13%, so the idea that we will be able to digest a 67% wage increase is wrong. The math just doesn't add up.
We want to pay everybody more if we can, but it has to be fair. Giving $5 more an hour to a waiter that already makes $40 to $60 an hour makes no sense. But giving $15 an hour to someone that makes $10 with no tips is something we want to do. Therefore, I support the total compensation idea. As long as tips are included in the calculation, everyone should get a raise. But this is the only way we can make it work. If tips do not count toward the minimum, there will be two consequences.
First, will have to let some employees go, and second, we will either be forced to close down or stop opening restaurants.
Does this make any sense to anyone? We have hired over 400 people over the past few years and paid millions of dollars in sales taxes. The answer is not to push restaurateurs in a corner, but to help us be part of the solution. We want to raise the minimum wage, but in a way that doesn't put at risk the jobs of ten of thousands of people in Los Angeles."