Oregon restaurants can now share tips with heart-of-the-house employees
 
A federal spending bill passed March 23 abolished a 2011 federal regulation that prohibited tip pooling in all circumstances with non-customarily tipped employees. Now, employers are once again allowed the opportunity to expand tip pools and share the tips among a broader range of employees in states where employers don’t take a tip credit.
 
This change now allows tip sharing among both customarily and non-customarily tipped employees, including dishwashers and cooks.
 
The new legislation also makes it clear that tips belong to the workers who receive them and that owners, managers and supervisors are prohibited from sharing in tip pools.
 
“We believe team environments within restaurants lead to customer satisfaction and business success,” said Jason Brandt, president & CEO of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association (ORLA). “Last week’s congressional action affirms what our industry knows to be true – the dining experience is made possible by wait staff, cooks, bussers, dishwashers and other hard-working employees who now have the opportunity to share in the success of great customer service through the sharing of tips.”
 
The association looks forward to receiving further guidance and clarification from the U.S. Department of Labor.
 
To learn more, read Key Issue: Tip Pooling Updates.

11 Schools Competed in Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association Education Foundation’s Statewide Competition Showcasing the Hospitality Industry’s Future Chefs and Innovators
 
The challenge for the student chefs in the culinary competition was to prepare a three-course gourmet meal with only two butane burners in under an hour. Willamette High School pulled this off with excellence, winning top honors in the culinary competition at the ORLAEF ProStart Invitational, sponsored by Sysco. Bend High School took champion title in the management competition where students developed and presented a new restaurant concept to judges from industry and post-secondary education. The event was hosted by the Education Foundation of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association (ORLAEF) on March 18, 2018 in Salem, Oregon.
 
ProStart, one of the nation’s largest industry-supported career and technical education (CTE) programs, teaches high school students culinary and management skills needed by restaurant, hospitality, and foodservice employers. Focused on culinary techniques and restaurant management skills, this competency-based curriculum also includes real-life restaurant experiences. The ORLAEF ProStart Invitational is the capstone of this two-year program, providing a public opportunity for students to showcase what they have learned. Top competitors in the event receive a share of over $675,000 in scholarships and prizes from local and national culinary schools to help further their careers in the restaurant and foodservice industry. 

“Sysco Portland is proud to partner with ORLAEF in support of ProStart,” said Bobbie McDonald, Vice President of Merchandising & Marketing at Sysco Portland. "These young culinarians from our state are building skills that are foundational to their careers in the hospitality industry. We applaud their enthusiasm and can’t wait to serve them in the future.”
 
Final results for the culinary competition:

• First Place – Willamette High School
• Second Place – Bend High School
• Third Place – McMinnville High School​

Final results for the management competition:

• First Place – Bend High School
• Second Place – South Salem High School
• Third Place – McMinnville High School

Additional awards presented at the event:

• Foster Farms Student of the Year – Cole Barnhardt, Willamette High School
• Teacher of the Year – Sheri Carson, Roseburg High School
• Mentor of the Year – Doug MacFarland, Brasada Ranch, Crook County High School

 
“The atmosphere at this event was electric,” said Wendy Popkin, executive director of ORLAEF. “The ProStart program does a remarkable job preparing high school students with fundamental skills such as communication, teamwork, time management and professionalism needed to enter the workforce.” 
 
The teams from Bend High School and Willamette High School will head to the 2018 National ProStart Invitational® April 27-29, 2017, in Providence, RI.  Contact Popkin for information about how you can support local Oregon students on their journey to the national competition.
 
Currently 38 Oregon schools, with more than 3,000 students participate in the ProStart training program. Internationally, ProStart includes 137,300 students in 1,768 schools and technical centers across the United States, Guam, Europe, and Asia.
 
About ORLAEF
 
As the philanthropic foundation of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, ORLAEF supports and promotes diverse career, educational, and public service opportunities within the hospitality industry to create a vibrant industry that contributes to Oregon’s economic livelihood and its citizens’ quality of life. Oregon’s restaurant and foodservice industry is comprised of over 9,900 foodservice locations and has a total economic impact of $10.8 billion - making it the cornerstone of the economy and one of the state’s largest employers.

2018 ORLAEF ProStart Invitational – Participating Schools
 
Culinary Competition

• Bend High School
• Crook County High School
• Grants Pass High School
• McMinnville High School
• McNary High School
• Mountain View High School
• North Salem High School
• Roseburg High School
• Willamette High School

 
Management Competition

• Bend High School
• McMinnville High School
• Pendleton High School
  
• South Salem High School
• Willamette High School
  

View photos from event on Flickr.

79th Legislative Assembly Garnered Real Outcomes

The “short” Oregon Legislative session officially ended March 3, 2018. The Government Affairs team at ORLA worked diligently to pass several pieces of good legislation and prevent more damaging laws from passing. Working collaboratively with other groups and organizations, some of whom we have not partnered with before, ORLA finished up a very successful short session on behalf of our industry partners.

Here is an update on a few of the bills ORLA was working on and tracking:

HB 4120A – Relating To Short-Term Intermediary Lodging Tax Payments
In 2003, the Tourism Investment Program (HB 2267) was adopted, establishing the statutory framework for the transient lodging tax program. Third-party intermediaries have always played a role in short-term lodging and that role has increased as new short-term lodging models emerged in the marketplace and consumers more frequently turned to multiple online platforms to compare prices and make their vacation plans.

In 2013, we believe the Legislature passed bills intending to treat short-term rental intermediaries the same as traditional hotels, motels and other lodging establishments who pay the transient lodging tax to the state, counties and cities.

Unfortunately, some of these third-party short-term rental intermediaries have refused to pay taxes unless a voluntary collection agreement is signed and even then, the agreement stipulates no sharing of data between the short-term rental intermediary and the city or county. Cannon Beach recently rejected a voluntary collection agreement due to a lack of transparency and the inability to properly audit, thereby ensuring they were receiving the correct amount of transient lodging tax. 

The need to statutorily clarify that short-term rental intermediaries are responsible for collecting and remitting the transient lodging taxes was reinforced in 2016 by the HB 4146 Work Group and as a result, HB 2049 was introduced in the 2017 session. 

This session, ORLA worked with the League of Oregon Cities and State Representative Pam Marsh (D–Ashland) to help introduce HB 4120A, which requires short-term intermediaries like Airbnb to collect lodging taxes when they’re already collecting the lodging stay payment. After passing out of committee, HB 4120A was supported widely through a bipartisan vote (52-8) in the State House of Representatives. The bill then moved over to the Senate and to the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee where State Senator Mark Hass (D-Beaverton) led the committee in support of a 5-0 vote recommending passage to the rest of the Senate. Another member of the Senate Committee, State Senator Alan DeBoer (R-Ashland), carried the bill on the Senate floor to a 26-1 vote for a major hospitality win. The bill is now headed to the Governor’s desk for signing.

HB 4088 – Relating To Music Licensing
ORLA, working in partnership with the Oregon Winegrowers and with the support of music licensing company BMI, introduced HB 4088 to help regulate how music licensing companies can engage lodging and restaurant operators about the playing and/or performing of copyrighted music.

The bill prohibits certain activities by, and specifies additional duties for, performing rights societies in notifying business proprietors concerning proprietors' duties with respect to performing copyrighted musical works and in negotiating contracts for paying royalties for performing copyrighted musical works.

Essentially, the bill states:

A performing rights society may not enter into, or offer to enter into, a contract under the terms of which a proprietor must pay royalties unless the performing rights society, at least 72 hours before entering into the contract, provides to the proprietor or an employee of the proprietor:

(a) Information, at the proprietor’s request, as to whether specific copyrighted musical works are in the repertoire of the performing rights society;
(b) An opportunity to review, electronically and free of charge, the most current available list of the performing rights society’s members or affiliates, and the most current available list of the musical works that the performing rights society licenses, in a format that the proprietor can search by title, publisher and performing artist; and
(c) A schedule of rates and terms under which the performing rights society will collect royalties under the contract, including the terms of any sliding scale or schedule for any increase or decrease of the rates for the duration of the contract.
 
Further, a performing rights society or any agent or employee of a performing rights society may not:

(1) Enter onto the premises of a proprietor’s business to discuss or inquire about a contract under which the proprietor will pay royalties without first:
(a) Providing identification to the proprietor or the proprietor’s employees; and
(b) Specifying the purpose of the entry;
(2) Use abusive, profane or obscene language when communicating with a proprietor or the proprietor’s employees;
(3) Communicate with a proprietor or the proprietor’s employees in person or by telephone in locations or at times other than in the proprietor’s place of business during regular business hours unless the proprietor’s place of business is not open to the public and the proprietor or an employee, agent or representative of the proprietor agrees to communicate in a different location or at a different time;
(4) Communicate with a proprietor or the proprietor’s employees after receiving notice from the proprietor’s attorney that the performing rights society or an agent or employee of the performing rights society must address communications to the proprietor’s attorney, except that a performing rights society or an agent or employee of the performing rights society may communicate directly with the proprietor or the proprietor’s employees if the attorney fails to respond to communications for a period of 60 days or more;
(5) Engage in any coercive conduct, act or practice that is substantially disruptive to a proprietor’s
business;
(6) Use or attempt to use any unfair or deceptive act or practice in negotiating with a proprietor
 
The bill was passed out of the House Business and Labor Committee and was carried on the House floor by State Representative Denyc Boles (R-Salem), passing 59-0 with one excused. On the Senate side, after passing out of the Senate Business and Transportation Committee, it was carried by State Senator Rod Monroe (D-Portland). It then passed the Senate 29-0 with one excused. The bill is now awaiting a signature by the Governor.
 
HB 4054 A – Relating to the Removal of Personal Property (i.e., homeless camps)
Although not a partner on this bill, ORLA was supportive of its passage. 

The bill which specifically allows the Department of Transportation to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with cities with a population of 500,000 or greater (i.e., Portland) creates an avenue for the city to continue their important work in cleaning up homeless camps regardless of whether the land is owned by the city or state.

The bill cuts down the number of days from 22 to 2 for notification purposes.

This bill passed 58-0 in the House with two excused and 27-0 in the Senate with three excused. It is now headed to the Governor’s desk for signing.

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Portland Kitchen Cabinet, in partnership with ORLA and National Restaurant Association, hosted its second annual Women Who Stir the Pot. The event celebrating restaurant industry innovators and leaders was hosted at No Bones Beach Club in Portland on March 13, 2018. View photos from the event on Facebook.

WHAT
High school teams compete in statewide culinary and management competitions at Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association Educational Foundation’s 2018 ORLAEF ProStart Invitational, sponsored by Sysco. Students prepare a three-course gourmet meal in 60 minutes in front of a crowd using only two butane burners, without access to running water or electricity. New this year, five teams will develop a restaurant concept and present to a panel of judges at a simulated business exposition in the management competition. 
 
WHEN
Sunday, March 18, 2018 - 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Schedule posted online.
 
WHERE 
Salem Convention Center, 200 Commercial Street SE, Salem
 
WHY
Helping high school students jump start culinary careers, the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association Education Foundation (ORLAEF) supports educators and schools offering ProStart, a national career and technical education (CTE) curriculum and program developed by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF). Teaching culinary, teamwork and management skills needed by restaurant, hospitality and foodservice employers, the ORLAEF ProStart Invitational is the capstone of this two-year program, providing a public opportunity for students to showcase what they have learned.
 
Of the 38 Oregon high school programs, currently involving 3,000 ProStart students, 11 schools are sending teams to this year's invitational. Heats begin at 9:30 a.m. and conclude at 2:15 p.m. Chef judges evaluate culinary teams on taste, presentation, knife skills, and teamwork. Management competition teams are evaluated on their concept, marketing strategies, menu, recipes and food costs, operations and critical thinking skills, with winners of both competitions announced at the dinner. Students also vie for a share of $675,000 in scholarships and prizes. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend this free event.
 
Sponsoring organizations – ORLAEF, Sysco, Oregon Culinary Institute, Bentley’s Grill and The Grand Hotel, The Old Spaghetti Factory, Foster Farms, Johnson Controls, Phoenix Inn Suites,Salem, Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton, and NRAEF - help send the first place team to the 2018 National ProStart Invitational, April 27-29 in Providence, Rhode Island.
 
Participating in the ProStart career technical education classes prepares students for community college certifications and degrees. 
 
INFO
For more information about the ProStart Oregon culinary championship, visit http://bit.ly/ORprostart.
 
ABOUT
As the philanthropic foundation of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, ORLAEF supports and promotes diverse career, educational and public service opportunities within the hospitality industry to create a vibrant industry that contributes to Oregon’s economic livelihood and its citizens’ quality of life. Oregon’s foodservice and lodging industry is responsible for 173,700 jobs bringing in over $10.8 billion in annual sales and generating 54% of the annual tourism dollars spent in Oregon – making the hospitality industry the cornerstone of the economy and one of the state’s largest employers.