PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — George Poulianas told his employees at the Whitman Diner in Blackwood, New Jersey that they would be getting a one-week paid vacation starting on the Fourth of July.
They were blindsided.
"I let them know two months ago, and I said 'Listen, just to give you a heads up, start looking because I know it’s tough to find rental properties or airfare, or whatever you want to do, day trips, start looking because Fourth of July week we are going to be closing down," he said.
He said his 23 employees were skeptical at first, until he said four magic words: "You will be paid."
"That change the whole narrative. After that, they saw that they’re not going to lose a week’s salary," he said.
“Their mouths dropped for the most of them."
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After all, things like health insurance and paid vacations are not common practice for diner workers.
To calculate how much he'd give his employees, he said he took a biweekly average of their pay, combining tips and hourly wage, and calculated how much each would get during their paid week off.
"Whatever you were making in the past two pay periods, that’s what you’re going to get in the form of vacation pay or whatever you wanna call it, a bonus," he said.
Poulianas said he finds it critical for his workers to get a break, so that they could come back to work refreshed.
“I sat with my partners, and I said, 'We get to go on vacation. We take days here or weeks at a time. Did you ever ask if so-and-so can do it that’s really hanging on tight here?'“
He said he wanted to show his appreciation for those who stuck with him for keeping his business alive through the pandemic.
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“It is unheard of, but if this wasn’t an eye-opener for not just the restaurant business but in general, life’s too short," he said.
“You can’t run a business, no matter the size of the business, without people.”
He said he intends to start working this week of paid vacation into his annual budget.
“It’s just the way the economy is in the workforce. You can’t afford to lose half a person," he said.
"It’s not that easy to find employees, and I don’t know that it’s going to get that much easier. People have found other avenues. They’re going into different careers. The ones that you have, take care of them.“
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