Behind the scenes in a restaurant: A study of 1017 women restaurant employees

by Consumers' League of New York City

Behind the Scenes in a
Restaurant

A Study of 1017 Women Restaurant
Employees

By
The Consumers’ League of New York City
1916

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

		PAGE
1.	Foreword	[1]
2.	Plan of Study	[3]
3.	The Worker	[6]
	Age	[6]
	Nationality	[8]
	Family and Home	[10]
4.	Hours	[12]
	Weekly Hours of Labor	[12]
	The Day of a Restaurant Worker	[15]
	Night Work and One Day’s Rest in Seven	[17]
	The Long-day Workers	[19]
5.	Wages	[20]
	Weekly Wages	[20]
	The Tipping System	[23]
	Irregularity of Employment	[25]
	Lack of Opportunity in Restaurant Work	[26]
6.	Summary of Study	[27]
7.	Recommendations for Legislative Amendment	[29]
8.	Appendix I.—A Statement from the Labor Department of the State of New York Advocating the Limitation of Hours of Work for Restaurant Employees	[31]
9.	Appendix II.—Extracts from a Tentative Report on the Physical Condition of Women Employees in Restaurants, Based on a Study Conducted by the Occupational Clinic of the Health Department of the City of New York	[33]
10.	Appendix III.—Restaurant Work from a Worker’s Point of View	[35]
11.	Appendix IV.—Schedule Used	[37]
12.	Appendix V.—Tables	[39]
13.	Appendix VI.—State Laws Regulating Work of Women Employed in Restaurants	[47]

Wanted—A Rest

FOREWORD.

“I keep hearing about laws for women. Where are they?” This was the question asked by a woman working twelve hours a day in a restaurant. What must we tell her? What excuse have we to offer for excluding her from the protection the law gives to women working in factories and mercantile establishments? That we have safeguarded women in these fields of employment from overwork proves that we know the dangers of overwork, that long hours interpreted in terms of human life mean exhaustion, disease, immorality, pauperism and a weaker generation to follow our own. This is an old story, it has been told again and again. Yet with our over-sensitiveness to an encroachment upon the rights and liberties of American citizens, we have failed to extend the protection of our laws to all who need their protection.