TMZ delves into the world of restaurant gossip today with a story about a Will Smith/Charlize Theron movie closing Cafe Pinot downtown for four days. According to the site:
Our spies on set tell us that filming began on Monday and will conclude on Thursday, with the restaurant reopening Friday. And while the Patina Restaurant Group (home of celeb chef Joachim Splichal) is profiting from the location filming, all staff members at the restaurant have been told to stay home for the week -- with no pay!It sucks that the staff isn't paid for time off, especially while the Patina Group profits big. Spread the wealth, we say. Shocking? No. Patina's a corporate heavy now, the little people get lost in the shuffle. But what TMZ fails to report, or just couldn't find out, is how much the staff knew ahead of time. If it was planned, maybe the staffers found a welcome late-summer respite from work; maybe some took a much-needed vacation. Still, four days of pay is a lot of money to lose.
So let's pose a question: When a restaurant closes for filming, or any other purpose that requires staff to stay home, is the staff usually compensated? Should they be? We want to hear your thoughts on this, especially from the restaurant industry, so we flipped on the comments switch. Comment away!
· Will Films While Staff Chills [TMZ]
