A few gasps erupted Feb. 28 at the Bryan Glazer Family JCC in Tampa when attorney Katie Molloy shared that employees can sue for twice what they’re owed if an employer doesn’t follow wage and hour laws properly — an issue plaguing the hospitality industry at the moment. “At the end of the day, you have to pay your employees, and you have to treat them fairly,” she says. With staffing shortages, Molloy says there’s a lot more overtime being worked and off the clock hours being logged. Not to me

Choosing a robot over a human has long been tough pill to swallow for many restaurant owners and operators. For good reason: it's a service-first, people-centric business. But several popular restaurant chains in the region, in addition to national fast-food chains, are jumping into the world of bots. If not to replace human employees, to lend a big (robotic) hand in the current labor crisis, and for some, maybe beyond. It helps, of course, that a comparison in salary and benefits between man a

Living paycheck-to-paycheck. Strapped for cash. You’re not alone if this describes you. In fact, almost 1-in-3 Americans take on a side gig to help out with bills and such. The gig economy and part-time jobs are great for people who are looking to earn a little more cash on the side. And we’re here to help you navigate the industry. Maybe you just got laid off from a full-time job or perhaps you just don’t make enough to live where you do. Maybe you want to start a savings account or start inv

Forget what you know about restaurants. No longer are the days of sitting down at a restaurant. That model has been left behind. That was so 2019. Enter the new era of kitchens. It goes by a lot of different names, which vary slightly in meaning. One common theme? These are not typical brick and mortar restaurants. Enter virtual, ghost, shared, dark and cloud kitchens. That's the new thing. "This is a concept that began before the pandemic but really developed during,” says Geoff Luebkemann, s

At 16-years-old, Larissa Lippe proved she was more ambitious than most. A high school student in Sarasota, Larissa founded a private tutoring company that caters to students K-12 in a broad range of topics, from English to math to foreign languages. Her business, Smart Kids Tutor LLC, got its start in January, when Larissa tutored a student and noticed a difference after just one session. That’s when she came up with the company’s purpose: “It’s smart kids helping smart kids.” Currently, Smart