latest news After lawsuit, Jon & Vinny’s adds wording to customer checks to explain 18% service charge

Nearly two weeks after former servers at Jon & Vinny’s filed a class action lawsuit against the popular Italian-American restaurant, alleging the establishment violated California gratuity laws, the restaurant has changed the wording affixed to the end of customer bills for its 18% service. costs.

At the bottom of customers’ checks, it now says, “The service charge is not a tip or tip, but an additional charge controlled by the restaurant that helps facilitate a higher base salary for all of our employees.” Please scan the QR code at the top of the receipt for more information or speak to a manager. »

As recently as June, receipts from the Fairfax and Beverly Hills sites did not mention that the service charge was not a tip. Instead, the receipt featured a QR code that, if scanned, linked to a webpage that read “What We Believe.” There, customers are told, “No, the service charge is not a tip or tip, it’s an extra that’s controlled by the restaurant.”

Over the weekend, the servers received a message from management regarding the change.

“We have decided to further update the guest verification and QR code summary page regarding service charges,” the post read. “While we have always been very clear with our customers and staff that the service charge is not a tip or tip, unfortunately the recent LA Times article has caused some confusion and we do not want it affects our staff or our customers’ experience.. We believe in this team, their experience and our ability to come together to preserve what is so special about Jon & Vinny’s.

A spokesperson for Jon & Vinny’s declined to comment beyond the memo sent to staff.

The announcement and change in billing language comes after a June 21 Los Angeles Times article about the class action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against Joint Venture Restaurant Group Inc., owner of Jon & Vinny’s. The workers claim that the company denied them tips and therefore cheated them on their take home pay due to the confusion resulting from the 18% service charge.

California gratuities law requires that tips be paid in full to non-management service personnel.

Through a spokesperson, the restaurant group – including partners Jon Shook, Vinny Dotolo and Helen Johannesen, well-known figures in the LA culinary community – denied the allegations. The business partners said their service fee model democratizes foodservice staff income for everyone in their restaurants, and customers receive information that the fee is not a tip.

“A decade ago, we recognized that the traditional tipping model rewarded some employees, but left many employees behind, creating a huge disparity where some employees did very well and others didn’t,” said the band in a statement sent to the Los Angeles Times. . The service charge, he added, “not only unquestionably benefits hourly employees, but is unquestionably legal, having been endorsed by leading independent professionals in the hospitality industry.”

These service charges have become a flashpoint for the restaurant and hospitality industries.

The practice of adding a service charge to restaurant checks has grown in California in recent years, and debates over how it should be treated by customers and workers boil down to one fundamental question: every restaurant employee. should a restaurant share what customers pay to be served?

Workers who serve food and beverages typically rely on tips as part of their take home pay. For diners, the fee has caused confusion, according to interviews and online accounts. Complaints and questions about the increasingly ubiquitous additional fees pop up regularly on social media, such as Reddit, Instagram, and Yelp.

A server who currently works at Jon & Vinny’s Beverly Hills location said the new language might be clearer but didn’t sit well with some of their diners on Sunday night. The server did not want to be named for fear of reprisal.

“That definitely doesn’t solve the problem because people are still pissed off about the 18% and where they’re going,” the server said. “And that clearly didn’t make them tip more last night.”

Sunday night, the waiter said, diners tipped him less than usual. He said customers leave “lots of zeros” in tips or write “included” in the tip line.