The jig is up. A few years ago, the city of San Francisco began its Healthy San Francisco program, which required businesses with a certain number of employees to create a pool of money for workers to use for health care. Employees opted for that, as opposed to placing a surcharge on customers bills. However, it looks like a number of restaurants were just pocketing the money.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the city collected $14 million in surcharges in 2011, but only a third of that was used for employee health care. Now, a city attorney has launched an investigation on over 50 restaurant owners, though the city will most likely create an amnesty plan as opposed to more drastic actions.
One of the most egregious cases is Patxi's Chicago Pizza, which reportedly denied 115 employees coverage between 2009 and 2011, leaving an extra $205,000. Tom Ammiano, who created Healthy San Francisco, says that the city will work out a payment plan with offenders. Meanwhile, the investigation will continue.
[via Eater]
