McLoone's New Jersey Restaurants To Pay Some Staff $15 An Hour

TINTON FALLS, NJ — Jersey Shore restaurateur Tim McCloone announced Thursday that, effective immediately, all non-tipped employees across his restaurant empire will be paid $15 an hour. The new policy applies to prep cooks, dishwashers and hostesses. It does not apply to waiters, waitresses and bartenders. Related: $15-An-Hour Does Not Apply To Waiters, Waitresses, Bartenders

He may be the first large-scale restaurant owner in the state to enact such a policy.

McLoone owns 10 restaurants in New Jersey; they are mostly in Monmouth County, from Rum Runner in Sea Bright to the Iron Whale in Asbury Park. He also owns outposts that bear his name in Woodbridge and Bayonne. His empire will soon rise to 12 when his two new Pier Village restaurants open this June in Long Branch (Kahuna Burger and a third Robinson Ale House).

He employs about 1,500 employees at the peak of the summer season (it's about 700-800 in the winter slow months).

One important thing to know: Servers will still make the state-mandated minimum cash wage for tipped employees of $3.13 an hour. So you should still tip.

McCloone has tapped into a lighting rod issue currently being debated on the national stage: Should low-wage workers be paid more? President Joe Biden has called on making the minimum wage $15 an hour. Here in New Jersey, Gov. Murphy has set all minimum-wage employers on a timeline to pay $15 an hour by 2024.

McLoone is ahead of the curve.

"Yes, I think we'll be copied and yes, I think we'll be hated (by other restaurant owners)," he laughed, when asked by Patch. "How you're treated in the business matters a lot. We have very little turnover and I would like to think one of the reasons people stay with us is because they are paid and treated fairly. That matters a lot to people."

McLoone, who owns his restaurant chain with his wife, said the idea to increase the minimum wage has been percolating in his head "for some time."

"I was paying them about $13, and then was going to go to $14 and then $15 this June. So I figured let's just make it $15 now," he said. McLoone is in his 70s and lives in Little Silver.

Who McLoone said he is really trying to help is his lowest-wage employees: The food runners, the dishwashers, the prep cooks, the bar backs. He said his tipped servers "have been doing great on nice days; there is pent-up demand for people to dine outside" and he also said his bartenders "will do great again once the governor lifts bar restrictions."

He, like millions of businesses across America, received federal Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) funds in the past year and he said part of this will come out of that.

"What we were trying to do was take our lowest-wage earner and help us shore up our labor force," he said. "My real feeling on this was we received government support and PPP and I wanted to have it trickle down. Everyone says trickle-down doesn't happen, but I wanted to make it happen."

"So yes, that dishwasher coming in the door for the first time, or that high school junior getting her first job as a hostess is going to make more money this summer."

A problem currently being seen by restaurant and bar owners nationwide is the struggle to find employees: Some restaurants are saying they just can't find people who want to work.

McLoone said he too, is experiencing some of that and yes, he does think paying his staff $15 an hour will help.

"What people don't realize is there is actually a lot of competition for low-wage jobs, especially in the summer. There are a lot of restaurants on the Jersey Shore. You can get high school and college who can be paid $20 an hour to babysit," he said. "Most people we know want to work."

McLoone's currently owns and operates:

• Rum Runner in Sea Bright
• Supper Club in Asbury Park
• C.J. McLoone's in Tinton Falls
• Robinson Ale House in Red Bank
• Iron Whale in Asbury Park
• Robinson Ale House in Asbury Park
• McLoone's Boathouse in West Orange
• McLoone's Bayonne Grille in Bayonne
• McLoone's Woodbridge Grille in Fords
• Pier House in Long Branch

Coming this summer:

• A third Robinson Ale House at Pier Village in Long Branch
• Kahuna Burger at Pier Village

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