Laurels & lances: Signing up and paying back

Laurel: To celebrating a different kind of commitment. Senior year of high school can mean a lot of attention on next steps for some kids. There are big productions made out of the athletes who accept scholarships to play their sports for marquee colleges. Then there are the brainiacs who pick up academic scholarships for big names in their chosen fields. The pageant queens who got their scholarship money for poise or talent.

But all of that can leave the kids who aren’t following those paths feeling like their contributions don’t matter — which couldn’t be further from the truth.

Which is why companies like General Carbide thinking outside the typical job fair can be a way to show just how valuable other options can be.

“We started talking about (how) all of these high school students … not all of them are going to get the athletic scholarship, not all of them are going to go to college, not all of them are going to go into the military,” said human resources manager Jessica Gardner.

The decision? Give new recruits at a Hempfield Area High School event their own signing day. The experience puts emphasis on the selection as a career choice, not just a job. It demonstrates value and gives new hires well-earned pride.

Lance: To gratuitous behavior. Pittsburgh Distilling Co. — better known to many as Wigle Whiskey — was ordered to pay back $38,951 to 41 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation showed servers were being required to share their tips with managers and supervisors and paying incorrect overtime rates.

The company said the incident refers to a misunderstanding due to a federal rule change and is tied to one hourly, non-exempt floor manager who was doing direct customer service work due to the pandemic and has apologized for the mistake.

But a mistake this costly for the company underscores how much the impact is on food service workers, who are the backbone of the hospitality industry. All companies need to keep that in mind if they want to have any hope of filling the 1.3 million food service job openings nationwide.