ATLANTA (WANF/Gray News) – JenChan’s, a family-owned restaurant in the Cabbagetown area of Atlanta, is garnering attention, including some negative, because it’s charging customers a health insurance fee for its full-time employees.
A message is posted outside the restaurant, on all menus and at the bottom of each receipt, saying the restaurant implemented a 4% health insurance fee after their premiums more than tripled last year.
“Thank you for being a part of our effort to ensure our staff can seek care for whatever mental or physical ailments they may face. We have appreciated all of the positive feedback from you, thank you! Please know that we will be more than happy to remove this for you without hesitation,” the notice also stated.
Emily Chan, owner of the restaurant that opened six months before the pandemic, said this fee has been in place for more than a year.
“We’ve only done this for a year and a half, right?” Chan said. “So, at the end of last year, we were able to cut a very small check, because that was it. There wasn’t a lot left over, but there was a little bit, to the employees who were on health insurance. Well, this year, it covered every single thing, and it was $2,000 off, which means that 4% is just like it’s almost the perfect amount of money to cover everyone’s premiums.”
Recently, the owner’s family has received threats about the extra fee. Restaurant staff said one customer in particular was upset about paying $2 extra.
“Someone just wasn’t happy about it. They ate food here, dined in and said nothing while they were here and went online to spill some nastiness about not just the health insurance but physically threatening Emily and Jen and their kid online,” said Sam Hammer, lead bartender at the restaurant. “Our owners take care of us by including a little charge for…
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