Michelin-starred restaurant ‘fines staff for yawning, swearing and serving larger portions’
Yawning, swearing and “playing around” at work were said to be among items on a Michelin-starred Hong Kong restaurant’s menu of offences which attract fines of up to HK$100 each time staff break the rules.
Yawning, swearing and “playing around” at work were said to be among items on a Michelin-starred Hong Kong restaurant’s menu of offences which attract fines of up to HK$100 each time staff break the rules.
The stiff penalty system reportedly in use at Lei Garden restaurant’s Sha Tin branch came to light when a photo of the 23-item list was recently posted to a Facebook group set up by restaurant workers to share industry news and job advertisements.
The restaurant, awarded one star by the Michelin Guide Hong Kong and Macau in each of the last five years, is part of the Lei Garden group, which serves upmarket Cantonese food at 24 branches in China and Singapore, including 10 in Hong Kong.
The name of the Sha Tin restaurant is on the top right corner of the list, which is dated May 2013. It clearly states more than 20 offences and the corresponding fine for each, starting at HK$20.
One rule states that workers are not allowed to behave in “indecent” ways in front of customers, such as yawning, stretching their bodies, using toothpicks, or cutting their fingernails.
If caught in the act, staff must pay HK$20 for each of those transgressions.