The Restaurant Association could give its member-owners some advice about dealing with employee stress to promote the well-being of hospitality workers. First, restaurants should provide a decent living for their employees. Many workers face the situation when they cannot provide for their family with their salary alone and have to rely on tips from customers to do it. This situation can be humiliating and result in additional stress for restaurant workers, which leads to depression and alcohol abuse.
Secondly, in COVID times, restaurants may be forced to rapidly introduce changes in the outlay of tables, working hours, and other inner rules, which may be confusing for the industry workers. Confusion over rules and managers’ demands can be stressful; to diminish the level of stress, the Restaurant Association may advise restaurant workers to notify workers beforehand when the rules will be changed. This way, employees have time to adjust; restaurant managers should ensure that new regulations are clearly stated and have no ambiguity.
Thirdly, the Restaurant Association may advise restaurants to hold mental health workshops, where different topics, such as ways to combat stress and prevent outburn, will be discussed with the therapist. Such stress-related issues as harassment, underpayment, and aggression on the part of customers can be explored in-depth, and ways to offset their negative consequences can be elaborated. Finally, more available access to the healthcare system for restaurant employees can be instrumental in dealing with a stressful situations at work and at home.