For many restaurant workers, health benefits are rare. Amid an 'existential' labour shortage, that's changing

Twenty-four-year-old line cook Maddy Vine has worked in a variety of different restaurants: French, Mediterranean, Italian. 

What most had in common, she said, was a lack of health benefits, which often left her skipping the dentist and avoiding filling prescriptions. 

In a physically demanding job  — Vine says she developed carpal tunnel syndrome at age 19 — she says that doesn't seem fair. 

"For an industry that's all about taking care of other people, it doesn't make sense to not take care of your employees," said Vine. 

Her current employer, D.O.P. – an Italian restaurant in Calgary's Beltline neighbourhood – is among those bucking the trend. 

This summer, owner Antonio Migliarese started offering health and dental benefits to staff after a three-month probation. Migliarese, a former server, says the move was in part because he felt it was the right thing to do – and in part a way of attracting and retaining good people. 

"I think it makes it very appealing to work in a place that cares enough to provide health care," said Migliarese, who owns another restaurant, Pizza Face, where the policy also applies. 

Migliarese isn't alone. Amid an unprecedented labour shortage, a small but growing number of restaurant owners are expanding health and dental benefits to workers — an indicator of the lengths businesses are taking to attract good employees and convince them to stick around.

Even before the pandemic, Restaurants Canada says the industry was short about 60,000 people. These days that number is closer to 170,000, according to Mark von Schellwitz, the association's vice-president for Western Canada.

While the association doesn't track how common benefits are in the industry, von Schellwitz said he's heard anecdotally that a number of restaurants are offering them for the first time.

Without enough people to work, many restaurants are still running reduced hours or have closed certain days of the week, he said. 

"At the same time they've got to generate those revenues in order to pay back those debts [they incurred during the pandemic], so that's been a big challenge for the industry," said von Schellwitz, who said a large number of restaurants are also boosting wages to entice people back.

There have always been some owners that offer benefits and other perks, but restaurant researcher Bruce McAdams said the current labour shortage has pushed more to offer higher pay, education subsidies and, increasingly, health and dental benefits for employees who don't occupy salaried, management-level jobs. 

"It has been very uncommon in the past and it is becoming more common now," said McAdams, an associate professor in the school of hospitality, food and tourism management at the University of Guelph.