Some businesses in Taiwan’s food service industry have begun offering unpaid leave to their employees and readjusting personnel to cut their losses amid canceled reservations due to the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak.
Taichung Dan Tzyy Mian, a wedding and party banquet hall operator, has incurred a loss of nearly NT$3 million (US$99,661) due to falling bookings amid the outbreak, with no weddings scheduled for the rest of this month, the owner of the 34-year-old company, Chou Wen-tao (周文道), said on Sunday.
Many companies have canceled their spring banquet bookings, with the number of canceled tables reaching nearly 400, he said.
Photo: Chang Ching-ya, Taipei Times
As the cancelations have put the company in a difficult situation, it negotiated with its personnel to offer unpaid leave of two to three days per month to its 70 staff members, Chou said.
It is a measure of expediency that would sustain the company while ensuring its employees their livelihood, he said.
The banquet hall and dining services would remain open, Chen added.
The unpaid leave policy would cease once the outbreak is under control and customers return, he said.
Taichung-based Tempus Hotel on Friday announced on its Web site and Facebook page that its hot pot restaurant would be temporarily closed until April 30 and the employees would be transferred to two other restaurants in the hotel during the period.
To minimize losses, some hoteliers have launched food delivery services and special promotions to attract customers, and reduced staff by not hiring part-time workers.
A shrimp restaurant in Taichung has protected its business by using promotions and reassuring diners about disease prevention efforts taken by its staff, said the restaurant owner, surnamed Hsieh (謝).
The public has demonstrated an awareness for good health management, as diners who walk in ask the staff to measure their temperature and ask for hand sanitizer, Hsieh said, adding that the restaurant uses more than 1 liter of sanitizer per day.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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