by DanB » Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:57 am
The article seems to indicate this problem is rampant in food retail. Does anyone know if it's that prevalent?
On the face of it local enforcement seems like a reasonable answer but, as always, someone's got to pay for it. The article referenced Miami-Dade which is probably twice the size at least as Metro Memphis. Miami Dade had (back of envelope) around 2.65 cases per working day. So let's say Memphis would have c.a. 1.2 cases per working day. Filing the case in small claims court probably costs around $200 if you go that route. So assume a gov't bureaucrat will cost about the same.....1.2x$200x 250 days if it's a one person office you'd have to pay someone c.a. $60K a year to cover it. Assuming local ordinances have teeth and there's an enforcement element which issues legal rulings.... plus collects fines from violators.... it would probably cost more even if you use existing assets in the County legal dept and other offices.
I haven't worked in food retail for 30 years...... but I can imagine it would be an absolute clusterfark to attempt to adjudicate such issues, esp when you're dealing with cash tips, sloppy accounting in Mom-n-Pop shops, etc.
