Absence and Wellbeing: Challenges and Opportunities for the Restaurant Sector

Our previous articles in MRM have centered on medical plan strategies for restaurants, how to build plans that are attractive to the workforce and manage those inherent costs. This article focuses on current trends in the time-away space and employee wellbeing. In addition to cost considerations, efforts to structure these types of benefits are complicated by compliance requirements and the challenge of communicating and promoting a positive employee experience.  As a result, many restaurants have not seen the value of adding such programs. Still, in the race for talent, could these types of benefit programs help differentiate your benefit package?

Time-Away Benefits Today’s employee-driven market, complicated by COVID and the Great Resignation, has led many restaurants to expand their time-away benefits.   Programs can range from expanded paid time off for the management groups down to parental leave for the crews.  Today, since the competition for an applicant isn’t just…