Off the news: How not to treat restaurant employees

Outback Steakhouse’s sudden pullout from Hawaii with Sunday’s shutdown of its three remaining restaurants here brings up several talking points.

Such as: It hints at the difficulty for restaurants to survive post-pandemic, and at today’s higher costs of doing business. Also, for many eateries, finding and keeping workers have been a struggle.

Still, Outback’s abrupt closure shows how not to treat employees; these workers had very little notice before their restaurants closed at Waipio, Kapolei and Kona. It’s good to see the Hawaii Restaurant Association now offering to assist these workers in finding new jobs in this industry — for help, email info@hawaiirestaurant.org.