Cafe Employees Work Day For No Pay

It was the ultimate show of support and appreciation for their boss.

On Friday, the three employees on duty at the Bear Creek Cafe in Glenwood worked the entire day for no wages. It was a gesture to demonstrate their appreciation for having a job and to show cafe owner Sherry Brosdahl that they understand the financial struggles she and other owners of small businesses are facing during our nation’s tough economic times.

“We all need to do our part to help struggling businesses stay open,” Bear Creek employee Breanna Wright said.

Bear Creek employees Sara Young and Allie Leiker got the idea to work a day for no pay from a diner in another state they had heard about. They ran the idea by Brosdahl, who was reluctant to go along at first because she didn’t want customers to think she was taking advantage of her workers.

“I was very reluctant, but they insisted. They said they wanted to do it for the business,” Brosdahl said.

Young said she and her fellow workers at Bear Creek understand that payroll is a major expense for Brosdahl and working a day for no wages seemed like a logical way to help the business.

“We’re doing this to help her out because payroll is one of the biggest expenses,” Young said.

After agreeing to let her employees work a wageless day, Brosdahl got the word out about their act of generosity. An e-mail was sent to fellow members of the chamber of commerce and a sign was posted near the front door for patrons to read.

On Friday, the restaurant’s customers responded in a big way by leaving $197 in tips for the three employees to share.

“It was a very good day,” Brosdahl said. “Our employees usually don’t get very many tips because we don’t do full table service. The people who left the tips were very obliging and very complimentary toward the employees.”

Brosdahl described her employees as “great kids.” She said they deliberately picked a Friday for their wageless workday because they realize it’s typically a high-volume day that requires full staffing.

“That’s typically a day I have to have more people here,” Brosdahl said. “It is tough right now to keep things going. I really do appreciate that they wanted to do this.”