GOODER AND HARDER: ‘Disturbing news’: San Francisco restaurants dread new state law banning service fees.

George Chen, chef and owner of China Live, levied a 20% service fee on customers upon reopening in 2020 after a temporary pandemic closure to sustain livable wages for his staff amid widespread industry layoffs.

Chen said the extra money has helped maintain salaries across the board at the sprawling Chinatown restaurant, and he’s seen 95% retention among his staff since he instituted it.

But a new state law slated to go into effect on July 1 would effectively outlaw such surcharges, doing away with what has become an increasingly common method of boosting restaurant wages amid rising costs and creating pay equity among front- and back-of-house staffers.

“It’s disturbing news,” Chen said. “They’re trying to change something that’s actually working.”

That’s why they changed it.

CORRECTION: I completely misread the law which, as Eugene Volock was kind enough to point out, is more like a truth-in-advertising regulation and is not an outright ban.