KALAMAZOO, MI — Greenleaf Hospitality Group is hiring at all 14 of its dining, hospitality and entertainment businesses in the Kalamazoo area, and the company announced Wednesday it is increasing its starting minimum wage for all tipped and non-tipped employees.
The company’s starting wage for all tipped employees has increased from the state minimum wage of $3.67 an hour to $7 an hour plus tips. The starting minimum wage for all non-tipped employees has increased from $10.50 an hour to $14 an hour, company CEO Tim Rayman told MLive.
The state minimum wage for non-tipped employees is currently $9.65 an hour.
Related: ‘We’ve failed low-wage workers:’ Restaurant owners raise pay in wake of labor shortage
Rayman said the wage increase is not only an investment in the company’s employees, but in the long-term health and success of the business.
“It’s no secret the hospitality industry took a huge hit during the pandemic, and unfortunately, through just natural reasons, lower business volumes, a lot of our staff left,” he said. “So, we really looked at this as a retention tool — how do we support our existing staff that has been loyal to us and supported us through the pandemic but then how do we also go out there and be an aggressive recruiter for new staff to join our team.
“People are going to need jobs coming up and everybody’s going to be fighting for them. We think our culture’s one of the best and if we can add in a strong and healthy starting wage for individuals that’s only going to help us recruit the best.”
As part of recruiting efforts, Greenleaf Hospitality will host a job fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, June 28, at the Radisson Plaza Hotel’s Arcadia Ballroom, 100 W. Michigan Ave. in Kalamazoo.
Representatives of all of the company’s 14 businesses will be at the fair, and Rayman said Greenleaf will be hiring for about 40 different types of jobs that include a handful of management positions, multiple server openings, cooks, housekeeping, security, maintenance and dozens more. Computers will be available for individuals to apply to their desired positions, and onsite interviews will be taking place as well.
Interested candidates are also encouraged to apply in advance of the fair, Rayman said. To see all available jobs at the company, visit joingreenleaf.com.
The company’s properties include the Radisson Plaza Hotel and Suites, Wings Event Center, Kalamazoo Wings, Old Burdick’s Bar and Grill, Wings West, The Morning Dish, Webster’s Prime, Blush Salon and Spa, Kalamazoo Athletic Club, Rio: Regionally Inspired Goods and the Starbucks location inside the Radisson.
The company offers benefits to all full-time employees, and scaled-down benefits to part-timers.
As Greenleaf raises its wages for the company’s lowest-paid workers, a statewide labor shortage in the restaurant industry has encouraged other businesses across Michigan to do the same, by offering higher wages and additional benefits to employees.
While Rayman said Greenleaf “didn’t feel a pinch” from its employees, the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on workers throughout the industry, many of whom argue they have long been underpaid.
Minimum pay rates were set to increase statewide, from $9.67 to $9.85, in 2021 as part of annual increases in the state’s minimum wage, which is set to increase for most workers to $12.05 an hour by 2030. But those increases were postponed this year, as a result of the massive unemployment caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
A group of Michigan workers and advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit claiming state lawmakers illegally amended the state’s minimum wage measure approved by voters in 2018, and asking a judge to raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2022.
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