Hilton Head’s largest restaurant group won’t require staff to wear masks during coronavirus
As restaurants in South Carolina begin reopening indoor dining this week, some Hilton Head leaders are questioning whether enough precautions are being taken to protect both employees and customers.
Hilton Head Island’s biggest employer, the Southeastern Entertainment Restaurant Group (SERG), will not require its employees to wear masks now that its restaurants are beginning to reopen — a decision Hilton Head Mayor John McCann took issue with at Tuesday’s town council meeting.
The group owns 16 restaurants on the island and employs 1,200 people.
“(SERG) left it optional for their waitstaff to wear masks or not wear it,” McCann said at the meeting. “I thought that was a little disturbing that the No. 1 . vendor on the island has given it up to their staff whether they want to do it or not. ”
McCann acknowledged that he’d likely get a call from the SERG group that evening following his comments, but there was no communication to employees about a change to mask requirements as of Wednesday morning.
Council voted unanimously April 21 to encourage face mask use by residents when they were in public places. The lack of requirement by SERG appears to sidestep that resolution.
Alan Wolf, president of the SERG group, is the chair of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce’s committee on restaurant reopening. His committee’s report was published last week and does not recommend requiring face mask use at island restaurants.
Instead, it says “Allow use of masks and gloves for front-of-house employees who desire to wear them.”
Wolf did not immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment Wednesday.
A banner on SERG’s website that says “We Are Working Hard To Keep Our Guests Safe!” has a link to the chamber’s “Path Forward Readiness Plan.”
That plan lists recommendations, not requirements, but includes steps such as additional staff training, sanitizing high-use surfaces at least once an hour, using single-use cleaning products, deep cleaning and disinfecting the entire facility at least five times a week, and encouraging handwashing as often as possible during shifts.
Hilton Head resident Barbara Ernico said she and her husband will not eat at a restaurant unless the waitstaff is masked and gloved, adding that she believes it should be a requirement.
“If you leave it optional, most of (the staff) will not wear them,” she said. “I don’t think a lot of people understand the masks and how they protect the person wearing the mask and the people they’re around.”
Since the coronavirus pandemic began impacting Beaufort County, SERG has been able to use funds from its Community Strong initiative to donate more than $125,000 to local charities, including The Deep Well Project, Bluffton Self Help, Hungry Hearts, and Help 4 Hope. SERG employees also received $375,000 in paychecks during its restaurants’ closures.
SERG has donated more than 3,200 meals to local charities and organizations since the pandemic began.
This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 12:05 PM.
