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Table of ContentsKitchen Hood Cleaning Guidance Page 4Tipping Point: Did the Recent Change to the NH Mini- Page 5 & 6mum“Kitchen Hood Cleaning Guidance” Page 8Good Housekeeping: Manage Your Exposure to Slips, Page 8Trips, and FallsMentors are needed to support ProStart Page 9Article…... Page…..Article…... Page…..Article…... Page….. Contact the NHLRA at [email protected] or 603-228-9585 Email Taylor Salvato or Diane Symonds for ad pricing and sizes.

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Kitchen Hood Cleaning GuidanceDocumentThose of you in the food service industry know that yourkitchen hoods are required to be cleaned on a regularbasis to prevent fire hazards. This cleaning process gen-erates large volumes of wastewater contaminated bygrease and caustic cleaners. This wastewater must bemanaged properly. The New Hampshire Department ofEnvironmental Services (NHDES) was recently madeaware of a situation in which this wastewater was im-properly disposed of into a storm drain. This is illegal andpunishable by law. In addition, the rooftop section of theexhaust system, if not maintained properly, may also al-low grease to drain directly into storm drains.To address these issues and provide information on prop-er management of this wastewater, NHDES developed aguidance document for facilities that have kitchen hoods.This document will help you better understand what isrequired to ensure your hood cleaning company is main-taining your hood system properly. The guidance docu-ment is located here: https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/p2au/pps/ppp/documents/co-17-01.pdfIf you have any questions, please contact the NH Pollu-tion Prevention Program at 271-6460 [email protected]

Tipping Point: Did the Recent Change That said, employers must still be carefulto the NH Minimum to avoid pressuring or suggesting that employees must participate in these pools, especially theWage Statute Clarify or Confuse Rules on Tip Pooling donor (tipped) employees. The issue the Newand Tip Sharing? Hampshire Department of Labor has had with tip pools is whether participation in the pool is vol-By Attorney Jim Reidy untary and free from coercion from the employ- er. That is because participation in a tip pool de- In the last session of the New Hampshire Leg- pends on each employee and can vary from dayislature, a bill regarding tip pooling passed and be- to day. Tipped employees must be able to de-came law. Employers with tipped employees hoped cide whether they want to participate in the poolthat this amendment to the State’s minimum wage and to what extent. That can vary from day tolaw change would make a meaningful change to how day and tipped employees must be able to opttipped employees can share their tips with other em- out or change the amount of their contributions.ployees. Sadly, some confusion remains. The Department of Labor has also looked Under the State’s minimum wage law (RSA at who participates in other forms of tip sharing279:21) tipped employees, meaning those who work arrangements. Again, participation in a true tipin a restaurant, hotel, motel, inn, cabin or ballroom pool is supposed to be only tipped employees,and customarily and regularly receive at least $30 meaning those who receive the tips directly fromper month in tips directly from the customers may the customer. The problem is that many em-be paid base hourly rate at 45% of the current mini- ployees often interact with customers and there-mum wage as long as the employee’s tips at the end fore influence the customer’s experience andof each pay period at least equal minimum wage for likelihood of adding a tip to the bill. Servers gen-the hours worked in that pay period. erally acknowledge the contributions of others and many share tips with hosts (those who es- It is commonplace for tipped employees to cort the customers to the table), expeditersparticipate in tip pools. Those are arrangements (those who bring the food or drinks to the table),where tipped employees agree, without coercion bar backs (those who bring drinks from the bar)from the employer, to pool their tips and divide the and busboys (those who clean the tables andpool among the pool’s participants. The employer prepare the tables for the next customer). Thosehas virtually no role in the organization of who par- arrangements are known as tip sharing becauseticipates in the tip pool as this is supposed to be a those other employees, while they interact withpool among tipped employees. However, there is customers and help improve the customer’s ex-some level of employer involvement in the admin- perience, don’t receive tips directly from custom-istration of these pools because employers need to ers. Those tip sharing arrangements must alsoensure compliance with the minimum wage statute be voluntary. While the tipped employee must(making sure tipped employees report and get credit still report tips for the tip credit agreement his/for their tips and the employer has paid at least mini- her minimum wage for that week, the non-mum wage for the hours worked). State law permits tipped employees don’t get the tip credit andemployers to help hold and administer the distribu-tion of the pool amounts. Employers can also sug-gest reasonable and customary practices, as well as

must be paid at least a minimum hourly wage inaddition to whatever tips they are given in the tipshare. Sounds simple right? Not so much. This hasbeen a troublesome issue for many employers withtipped employees. The issue in most of these cases is thattipped employees felt pressured or coerced, directlyfrom management or individually from co-workersto participate in tip pools or tip sharing. Also, tipsharing seemed to be a bigger issue as tipped em-ployees were sharing their tips with non-tipped em-ployees and those tipped employees didn’t alwaysfeel that the sharing was voluntary. In an effort to address this issue, a bill in thelast legislative session, SB 37, became law. Thatnew law, effective September 3, 2017, added a newprovision to RSA 279:26-b. “Nothing shall precludeemployee participants in a tip pool from agreeing,voluntarily and without coercion, to provide a por-tion of the common pool to other employees, re-gardless of job category, who participated in provid-ing service to customers.” Clear as mud? The problem is that the notions of tip pool-ing and tip sharing seem to be blended together,and the NH Department of Labor, relying on thedefinition of tipped employees under State law, thetip credit requirements under federal and statewage laws, and NH Department of Labor still con-sider the rules for tip pools and tip sharing to bedifferent. That doesn’t seem to be the intent ofthose who proposed and supported SB 37. In this session the Legislature has an LSRplaceholder that purports to repeal the State’s tippooling statute. Because it is an LSR there is no fur-ther definition to the bill at this point. Perhaps thisbill will help clarify these matters. In the meantime, employers with tipped em-ployees must continue to comply with minimumwage and tip credit requirements, and take note ofthe differences between tip pools and tip sharingarrangements. Stay tuned (and be sure to tip generously).Attorney Jim Reidy (Sheehan Phinney) is a well-known employment lawyer and chair of the firm’sLabor and Employment group.



Kitchen Hood Cleaning Guidance DocumentThose of you in the food service industry know that your kitchen hoods are required to be cleaned on aregular basis to prevent fire hazards. This cleaning process generates large volumes of wastewater con-taminated by grease and caustic cleaners. This wastewater must be managed properly. The New Hamp-shire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) was recently made aware of a situation in which thiswastewater was improperly disposed of into a storm drain. This is illegal and punishable by law. In addi-tion, the rooftop section of the exhaust system, if not maintained properly, may also allow grease to draindirectly into storm drains. To address these issues and provide information on proper management of thiswastewater, NHDES developed a guidance document for facilities that have kitchen hoods. This documentwill help you better understand what is required to ensure your hood cleaning company is maintainingyour hood system properly. The guidance document is located here: https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/p2au/pps/ppp/documents/co-17-01.pdfIf you have any questions, please contact the NH Pollution Prevention Program at 271-6460 [email protected] Housekeeping: Manage Your  Train/encourage all employees to pick up anyExposure to Slips, Trips, and Falls debris or spills on all walking surfaces imme- diatelyThe challenges of the seasonal changes are here… Areyou ready? Unfortunately, slips, trips, and falls repre-  Require that any loose carpet, stair risers,sent up to 30% of all workplace injuries in our indus- uneven, torn or damaged rugs, or unstabletry. Additionally, property- liability claims increase in equipment concerns are reported to man-the fall and winter months due to the lack of mainte- agement immediatelynance and preparation. In order to avoid and reduceyour exposure to these costly claims, start with good  Use caution signs on recently cleaned surfac-housekeeping strategies. These are crucial to a safe es or in damp entryways/exits due to clean-work environment for employees and safe visits for ing or inclement weathercustomers:  Non-skid durable soled shoes are your best bet for employees; high heels, open toe, Clear and treat parking lot surfaces, entryways, and/or leather soled shoes should be prohib- stairs, and common areas around your property – ited for employees who may encounter a if a fall occurs on your property, even outside and slippery surface within the property boundaries… the owner is like- ly liable for the incident. Report it immediately to Keep in mind that in late fall (or after a storm) your agent or insurer; take notes and obtain wit- leaves that have fallen and blown into entry- ness statements, if possible. ways/exits create very slippery surfaces. Make certain all entryways, aisles, walkways, Slips, trips, and falls can cause minor scrapes and common areas, and exits are clear of any debris, bruises; however they can also cause head trau- dead leaves, ice, or any obstruction ma and soft tissue injuries (back & shoulder strains/sprains, contusions, extremity injuries, etc.) which are the most costly of claims. BE proactive not reactive – Management’s commit- ment to loss prevention demonstrates how you val- ue your employees and customers… and by ensuring their safety, it will save you money! If you need assistance, please call us! Diane Symonds 228-9585

Mentors are needed tosupport ProStartProStart® is a nationwide, two year pro-gram for high school students that devel-op the best and brightest talent into to-morrow's industry leaders. From culinarytechniques to management skills, ProS-tart's industry-driven curriculum pro-vides real-world educational opportuni-ties and builds practical skills and a foun-dation that will last a lifetime.The New Hampshire Lodging & Restau-rant Association Education Foundation(NHLRAEF) is proud to support 10 Careerand Technical Education Centers acrossthe state who participate in ProStart. TheProStart schools reside in Concord, Der-ry, Milford, North Conway, Plymouth,Portsmouth, Rochester, Salem, Somers-worth, and Whitefield.Our support comes in two forms. First,financial assistance is provided by gener-ous sponsors to run a statewide compe-tition, provide aprons and beanies for allcompetitors, provide chef coats for thestate winners, and funds for our statewinner to travel to Nationals. Second, asthe NH ProStart Coordinator, I work tomake connections and develop relation-ships between our schools and theircommunities.Please check out the Volunteer Menu. There are a variety of opportunities and time commitments avail-able. The volunteer can be you or someone on your staff who would be excited to be involved. Any par-ticipation or involvement on your part will be of great value to our students and your future employees.If you’re interested in becoming involved with our ProStart students, please contact me.Amie PariseauEducation and Workforce Development [email protected]