The Dish A P U B L I C A T I O N O F T H E N E W H A M P S H I R E L O D G I N G A N D R E S T A U R A N T A S S O C I A T I O N
Issue No. 09
• December 2020 • Cover Photo: Buckley's Bakery & Cafe
Holiday Stress
Hospitality Employees
Stars of the Industry
How to boost morale while lowering stress.
A thank you for their extraordinary work this year.
page 9
A recap of our annual awards ceremony.
page 11
page 21
Inside YOUR GUIDE TO ISSUE NO. 9
5
Holiday Sheds
Great NH Restaurants get creative for gift card promo
8
Education Update
NH ProStart students compete in gingerbread/cookie contest
9
Managing Employee Stress
How to boost morale while lowering stress this holiday season
Thumbs up at Bad Lab Beer Co.
11 Hospitality Heroes
A thank you to NH's hospitality employees
13 Religious
EEOC Publishes Proposed Religious Discrimination Guidance for Public Comment
21 Stars of the Industry
A recap of this year's event
Discrimination
The staff at Zorvino Vineyards.
Cover Photo by Buckley's Bakery & Cafe. Locations in Hollis and Merrimack.
Cheers at Portsmouth Brewery.
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2020 Chairman of the Board
Jay Bolduc Great NH Restaurants 2020 VIce Chair of Lodging
Gail Batstone Owl's Nest Resort & Golf Club 2020 VIce Chair of Restaurants
John Dunn Michael Timothy's Dining Group NHLRA President and CEO
Mike Somers NHLRA Director of Education and Workforce Development
Amie Pariseau NHLRA Membership Manager and Director of Workers' Compensation Trust
Samantha MacDonald NHLRA Social Media and Marketing Manager
Pamela Baker Ad rates and submission guidelines: nhlra.com www.nhlra.com  | 4
MEMBER UPDATE
GREAT NH RESTAURANTS GET CREATIVE WITH HOLIDAY SHEDS! Holiday-themed sheds featured at Great NH Restaurants for annual gift card promotion during pandemic. By Great NH Restaurants
During
the
holidays
restaurants have looked secure
seasonal
sales
that
locations
busy
gift
help
to
card
cards social sheds
while
maintaining
distancing. are
keep
December
throughout
December
These
open 19th
from through
24th allowing
the winter months. To help
guests to
secure those sales Great NH
minute
Restaurants has decked out
safely with a little bit of fun!
outdoor
sheds
Plus, guests receive a bonus of
easily
five dollars for every twenty-five
where
holiday guests
can
and quickly purchase gift
make
gift
card
their
last-
purchases
dollars spent. www.nhlra.com  | 5
Great NH Restaurants built
Guests can also purchase gift
“We want guests to know
the sheds to reduce the
cards to be mailed & eGift
that responsible restaurants
gathering of guests in the
cards that can be sent direct
are safe and now, more than
lobby during the busy sales
to
ever, is the time to support
season and for guests who
through their website.
the
recipient’s
inbox
local
want to purchase gift cards
businesses”
in person but aren’t quite
As we know, the restaurant
ready to go inside yet. “Our
industry has been hit very
restaurants
hard
are
extremely
and
by
the
pandemic.
says
Click here to purchase gift
Operators continue to be
card
protocols in place to ensure
innovative and stay on top of
Cotton Door.
guest safety, including newly
the
installed
guidance
NASA
grade
air
and
Tom
Boucher.
safe, and we have dozens of
ever-changing
community
for
T-Bones
gift
or
state
regulations.
purifiers that destroy 99.97%
Like many local restaurant
of viruses, but the outdoor
owners,
holiday sheds give guests
Restaurants
another option. We think all
about sales during the winter
guests will love them. They’re
and early spring, as outdoor
very festive!” says CEO Tom
dining is no longer an option.
Great are
NH nervous
Boucher
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EDUCATION UPDATE
Gingerbread House/ Sugar Cookie Contest
Judge's Favorite
Alexandra Pinkerton Academy
By Amie Pariseau, NHLRA Education & Workforce Development Director Career
and
Technical
Education
certainly looks different in 2020. Some of our ProStart students are in school five days a week, some are there two days a week, and some are completely
remote.
For
students
who strive with hands-on learning, this has been a tricky time for them and their teachers. ProStart teachers asked for some fun, challenging
First Place - Gingerbread House
Best Attenton to Detail
Fitch Pinkerton Academy
Peyton Pinkerton Academy
First Place - Cookie People
First Place - Seasonal Creations
contests. We
hosted
hopefully,
our
first
annual)
(and
now
Gingerbread
House/ Sugar Cookie Contest. This contest
was
designed
to
be
accessible for students if they were in school or at home. They could bake their items from scratch or use a store bought gingerbread kit. They competed
in
three
categories-
Katelynn White Mountains Regional High School
Dylan White Mountains Regional High School
Gingerbread House, Cookie People, and Seasonal Creations. Best Holiday Theme
Congratulations to our winners from Pinkerton
Academy,
Plymouth
Jorga Plymouth Regional High School
Regional High School, and White Mountains Regional High School! www.nhlra.com  | 8
WELLNES S
Stay ahead of the stress and conflict by acknowledging there will be more tough days ahead. Don’t let it get the better of you.
HOW TO BOOST MORALE WHILE LOWERING STRESS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON By National Restaurant Association With four in 10 restaurants closing, more than $240 billion in losses by the end of the year, and one in six employees still out of a job, the restaurant industry has suffered more than any other industry since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
for restaurants as the holidays draw near. Stay ahead of the stress and conflict by acknowledging there will be more tough days ahead. Don’t let it get the better of you. Here are tips to manage stress and boost morale in an unrelenting year.
"The first step in helping your team handle stress this holiday? Actively listening so they know they’re heard."
We’re also about to enter one of the most stressful seasons www.nhlra.com | 9
Be genuine. These are hard times and your employees are likely to share some bad news from their personal life with you. Instead of reacting with platitudes that everything will be okay, set the tone with transparency and empathy. If they’re telling you their babysitter just quit or that their partner lost their job, empathize with them, tell them you’re glad they are here, and ask how you can help. Stay engaged. Acknowledge that you don’t have the all the answers to every complex problem. Instead focus on what you can control—how you show up to support one another. Operations of all sizes are using the following to stay engaged with staff throughout the pandemic: Hosting a weekly zoom call to understand how team members and their families are coping and what challenges they’re facing. Arranging daily contactless meal pickups for employees and their families. Establishing employee assistance programs that offer up to six free counseling sessions.
Be aware of your energy. In stressful situations, practice mindfulness in order to stay present and nonreactive. Otherwise, the stress is likely to escalate and get blown out of proportion. Here are some steps you can take to better manage your reaction:
Take three deep, slow breaths before you say anything Roll your shoulders back to release tension Spread your fingers or toes in order to use a physical action to reset your system in order to calm down Reframe conflicts. We think of conflicts as negative but take a minute to consider that they can be neutral and a natural part of living and relating with other complex individuals in complex situations. Instead, embrace the idea of conflict as a means towards finding a solution. Here are some tips to change the tenor of conflicts:
Intentionally assign positive intent to the other party Give them the benefit of the doubt
Check your assumptions about what you think they mean with their words Actively listen. When we’re given a chance to speak, we’re given an opportunity to feel heard and we automatically feel more understood. Really listening is an act of holding space for that person—a signal that they matter. Good listening is essential to building trust as well as genuinely motivating and engaging people. Here are some ways to ensure you are listening effectively:
Reflect back what people are saying by paraphrasing them Ask them to elaborate on a point that they've made or clarify something Acknowledge their points with phrases such as “I hear what you are saying about…” to reinforce that you’ve listened carefully It will be an unusual holiday season to say the least, but by using the tools above, you can show your team members that you truly hear them and what they say matters.
Tap into FREE mental and medical health resources for the industry.
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SPECIAL FEATURE
Hospitality Heroes
THANK YOU NH HOSPITALITY WORKERS Throughout the crisis this year, you - NH's 72,000 hospitality employees have been on the front lines working to feed your communities and provide safe lodging stays. Almost overnight, you learned new safety and sanitation protocols and adapted to new guidelines from state and federal agencies.
And while most of the world worked from home, you showed up day after day, changing glove after glove, always with a smile underneath your masks.
Thank you for your hard work during this challenging year. Your adaptability, resiliency, patience, and commitment to safety make us proud to be a part of this industry.
For all of us who have gone out to eat, ordered takeout, visited a brewery, or stayed at a hotel, you've been a bright light in a dark year.
WITH GRATITUDE, THE NHLRA TEAM
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EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT
MEET SOME OF THE HARDWORKING EMPLOYEES WHO HELPED KEEP THINGS RUNNING DURING THE PANDEMIC
Aiden Joy at Sassy Biscuit Co.
Oliver Harston at Burnt Timber Brewing & Tavern In a little over a year, Oli has gone from washing dishes at a retirement home where he would come in to Burnt Timber as a patron for a beer and to talk about food. He is now the restaurant manager of our small brewpub. Aside from the normal day-to-day tasks, he has lead kimchi fermentation seminars, 7 course farmer’s dinners , and partnered with local non-profits to arrange take and bake meals for low income families in the community.
Aiden Joy lives up to his name. He has been an asset to our team since he began working for our company. His smile and positivity attitude keep the kitchen staff motivated to crank out the amazing scratch made food our guests enjoy eating. We appreciate all that he does as well as the rest of our Sassy Staff!
Cassie at Puritan Cassie has been at the Backroom for nine years. She continually goes above and beyond for her guests, and our Puritan family. This year, Cassie has worked in multiple departments, helping the Puritan navigate through this pandemic, all with a smile! Thank you Cassie for all you do!
The Front Line Staff at the Common Man Roadside (Hooksett, Manchester, and Plymouth) Our staffs continue to provide safe and outstanding service to our customers during these challenges times. All have received additional health and safety training. It's a little tougher to see with the masks, but they are smiling!
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EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT CONTINUED
RADAR
The Dedicated Staff at Guiseppe's Pizzeria & Ristorante in Meredith Giuseppe’s Pizzeria & Ristorante is a family owned and operated full-service festive Italian restaurant located in the heart of Meredith, New Hampshire known for being “Very Musical, Very Italian and Very Good!" Giuseppe’s owes its success and reputation to its customers and to its employees. There have been so many great employees that have worked at Giuseppe’s over the past 31 years, under the leadership of owners Julie Gnerre-Bourgeois and Michael Bourgeois, however, there is an astonishing number of employees who have been with the company for over 5 years, 10 years, and over 20 years who deserve awards and recognition.
The following employees are recognized for their devotion and years of service: James Dorval (28 years), Bethany Lamprey (28 Years), Dan Welch (26 Years), Alexander White (26 Years), Christopher Rice (24 Years), Catherine Leonard (24 Years), Frank Leonard (24 Years), Shawn Hurd (22 Years), Derek Finno (20 Years), Brian Bourgeois (17 Years), Brian Martin (17 Years), Benjamin Brewer (17 Years), Janelle Desrosiers (14 Years), Jonathan Malek (14 Years), Dakota Harrison (14 Years), Jay Reardon (13 Years), Ashley Harrison (12 Years), Meg Plummer (13 Years), Buster Burrows (11 Years), Wendy Anderson (8 Years), Shawn Bertholet (8 Years), Jacob Bolduc (8 Years), Katharyn Wonders (8 Years), Cameron Lamprey (7 Years), Matthew Norton (7 Years), Ashley Bussolari (6 ½ Years), Nate Lamprey (6 Years), Matthew Meegan (5 years), Skylor Miller (5 Years), Gregory Regis (5 Years), Melissa Seeley (5 years), Jake Valpey (5 Years).
Katie and Jacob
Emily and Greg Regis
The Team at Luca's Mediterranean Cafe In this video, the staff at Luca's Mediterranean Cafe in Keene share their experience adapting during the COVID-19 pandemic. "As a team, we created a plan. Without them, this doesn't happen," says owner Luca Paris.
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LEGAL UPDATE
EEOC Publishes Proposed Religious Discrimination Guidance for Public Comment EMPLOYER OBLIGATIONS WITH OVER 50 EXAMPLES
By Christopher T. Vrountas, Esq. and Allison C. Ayer, Esquire, Vrountas, Ayer & Chandler, P.C.
Just before Thanksgiving, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) published proposed new guidance regarding religious discrimination in the workplace. The 100+ page guidance explains an employer’s obligations regarding religion discrimination mostly by giving common examples of how religion and workplace rules tend to collide and if and how the scenarios violate the law. In fact, the EEOC
guidance provides over 50 different examples to help employers understand workplace scenarios which implicate Title VII’s prohibition against religious discrimination. The format of the guidance offers critical insight into how the EEOC views religious discrimination claims. As real-life examples often provide a helpful way to understand confusing legal standards,
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the guidance also provides practical ways to deal with these issues in day-to-day operations. While some might assume the guidance would be proemployer because it is timed right before the end of a Republican administration, it actually trends the opposite way, suggesting that employers have significant duties to accommodate religious beliefs and practices. This likely stems from the political influence of advocates for religious freedom who make up such a large part of President Trump’s support.
With that said, the guidance makes abundantly clear that religion is an extremely thorny issue and employers must be cautious and openminded when religion and
work intersect. For this reason, employers should review the guidance in its entirety. In the meantime, here are some of the highlights: What is Protected Religion?
Given that Title VII protects an employee’s religion, not social, political, or economic philosophies, or mere personal preferences, the EEOC guidance begins bydiscussing what constitutes protected “religion”. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(j). Title VII’s protections apply whether or not religious views are mainstream or nontraditional, and regardless of whether they are recognized by an organized religion or based on a belief in God or gods. Protected religion so encompasses moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong which are
al sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views, and it covers employees who are NOT religious or who do not engage in religious practices. Moreover, although the religious belief/practice for accommodation must be “sincerely held,” the fact that belief deviates from commonly followed tenets of religion does not necessarily mean the standard is not met. The employers’ opinion of the logic or reasonableness of a religious view is largely irrelevant in evaluating religious discrimination. Here are some examples from the guidance: An employee practices the Kemetic religion, based on ancient Egyptian faith, and affiliates himself with a tribe numbering fewer than ten members explains that it would be a sin to cover his tattoos intentionally because doing so would signify a rejection of the Egyptian god of the sun This can be religious practice even if no one else subscribes to it. BUT... An employee who refuses to cover a tattoo of her favorite band because she feels so
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passionately about it that it is essentially her only religion need not be accommodated because her beliefs about the band do not relate to “ultimate concerns” about life, purpose, death, humanity’s place in the universe, right and wrong, or any moral or ethical belief system. According to the EEOC, her beliefs about the band are a personal preference that is not religious in nature.
What Type of Conduct is Prohibited? Discrimination Affecting Terms/Conditions and Harassment
The proposed guidance also uses examples to demonstrate that Title VII prohibits religious discrimination in any of the terms and conditions of employment. Generally, this means that an employer may not refuse to recruit, hire or promote individuals and may not impose different work requirements on an employee because of that employee’s religious beliefs or practices. Employers also cannot discipline or discharge employees because of their religion. This is true even when the employment decision is based on customer preference. Title VII’s prohibition against religious discrimination also
covers harassment. As with any other claim of this type, the conduct must be “sufficiently severe or pervasive ‘to alter the conditions” of the employee’s employment and create an abusive working environment,” and it must be unwelcome. An isolated, unwelcomecomment about religion will not be enough to violate Title VII. But the proposed guidance also makes clear that there can be religious harassment whether or not religion is specifically mentioned during the harassment. These are some of the examples offered by the EEOC to drive these concepts home: - Promotion. An employee who practices Buddhism is rejected for promotion in favor of a non-Buddhist candidate who was less qualified. The company advises the employee that he was not selected because “wedecided to go in a different direction.” But, the vice president confides to coworkers that a Christian manager was selected instead because he could make better personal connections with the firm’s clients, many of whom are Christian. This suggests pretext for religious discrimination, according to the EEOC.
- Discipline. A retail store manager does not discipline an employee who is frequently 10-15 minutes late for her shift to attend Mass at a Catholic church, but he does discipline a newly hired clerk who is Muslim, and arrives 10 minutes late due to his attendance at services at the local mosque. While the employer can require similarly situated employees to be punctual, it discriminates based on religion by applying different discipline standards to employees of different religions. Other Terms and Conditions. A secretary is allowed to display a Bible on her desk at work, but another secretary is asked to put the Quran out of view because, his coworkers “will think you are making a political statement, and with everything going on in the world right now we don’t need that around here.” Such disparate treatment constitutes religious discrimination. - Termination. Weeks after a coffee shop hires a cashier who wears a turban as part of his Sikh religion, the work crew from the construction site near the shop no longer comes in because they believe the cashier is uslim. The EEOC says that it would violate the law for the coffee shop toterminate the employee based on customer preference and
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regardless of whether he was actually Muslim, Sikh, or any other religion. - Religious Harassment. If they occur with enough frequency, it could be religious harassment for an employee to persist with talking to another employee about her prospects for salvation after she tells the employee he has “crossed the line.” Even if the employee has willingly talked with this work colleague for months about religion, the employee should stop having non-workrelated conversations with her after she expresses that the conduct is unwelcome...BUT it is not harassment if an employee is offended by conversations he overhears between coworkers, one of whomis a Buddhist, discussing meditation techniques. Such conversations do not constitute religious harassment, particularly given that they do not insult other religions and they were not directed at him.
Providing Religious Accommodations
The EEOC guidance spends a great deal of time explaining employers’ obligation to give religious accommodations unless it would cause “undue hardship.” See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1), (2). Typically, this plays out when an employer advises an applicant or employee of its policies and practices, and in response the person indicates that an accommodation is needed for religious reasons. Some common religious accommodations include: scheduling changes, voluntary substitutes, shift swaps, change of job tasks, or transfers, and modifications to work places policies and procedures, including in particular grooming and dress code policies, use of employer facilities for prayer time, employer identification procedures and/or other forms of religious expression in the workplace.
There are no “magic words” an employee needs to use to ask for a religious accommodation. Moreover, there ae scenarios where an employer is on notice of the need for a religious accommodation even if the applicant or employee does not specifically state that an accommodation is needed. In such circumstances, it would violate Title VII for an employer to fail to provide a reasonable accommodation unless it proves that doing so would pose an undue hardship. Once the employer is aware of the employee’s religious conflict, the employer should promptly obtain the information it needs to determine whether a reasonable accommodation is available without posing an undue hardship on the employer’s business. This typically involves the employer and applicant/employee cooperatively sharing information necessary to process the accommodation request, much like the “interactive process” required when processing requests for accommodations for disabilities.
To read this full article, visit our Legal Center.
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Stars of the Industry On Monday, November 16, New Hampshire's hospitality industry came together at the NHLRA's annual Stars of the Industry to recognize outstanding hospitality professionals. In the words of NHLRA Chairman of the Board Jay Bolduc, "If there was ever a year to celebrate the industry and each other, this is the year."
All state, federal, and CDC guidelines were followed during the event.
Catering/Function Facility of the Year winner, Brian Ferguson of Flag Hill Catering & Events.
Innkeepers of the Year recipients, Gary and Sandra Plourde of The Christmas Farm Inn/Thayers Inn.
Winners received a personal letter of congratulations from Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
A beautiful dinner was served by the team at the Grappone Conference Center.
Allied Member of the Year winner, Paul Kirschbaum of Gordon Food Service.
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Prior to the awards ceremony, the NHLRA held its annual membership meeting.
Rob and Lisa North were honored for their charitable work this year, including leading the charge on the successful collaboration of "Gratuity."
Thank You
EVENT SPONSORS CENTERPIECE
TABLE WINE
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
PROGRAM AND SIGNAGE
CHEERS TO THE INDUSTRY
STRATEGIC SPONSORS
16 Centre Street Concord, NH 03301 | (603) 228 - 9585 | nhlra.com