Latest news with #Wassel
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Loving Giving Local: Erie Cancer Wellness Center
If you're in a fight against cancer, doctors and nurses at your local cancer center help you with the medical journey. Many of your other needs during and after treatment can be found at the Erie Cancer Wellness Center. Jackie Wassel. Executive Director said, 'What we do is really just fill the need for mind, body, spirit support. We have anything from education resources, wellness and movement classes. We have nutrition education, reiki, massage, you name it. Community. Really, a safe space for people to come so they're not alone on this journey. ' The Cancer Wellness Center is a calm, attractive space that offers recreational and educational opportunities, a library, a room for children, a space for exercise and movement classes, and even a wig salon providing dozens of options for those who need hair. The cancer wellness center also offers group therapy and has a space that many organizations use for that. All the services available here are available to cancer patients and their families free of charge. Wassel said, 'There is already a huge financial burden on those that are faced with cancer, and we want to make sure they have no other worries as far as costs go here. And luckily, we have a very generous community that provides us with the support to continue this great work. This week's Loving Giving Local donation from Auto Express Resale Ctr will be used for something new coming to the Wellness Center, programming specifically for men. 'They are a population that is difficult,' Wassel suggested. 'Ya know, difficult to serve and bring in, so we're hoping to expand that.' In making his donation, Joe Askins of Auto Express said, 'For us to be able to deliver Loving Giving Local and learn all that they do, not only for the patient going through cancer but the family members to help them along their journey, so for us to be able to bring that donation today and to learn that it's going to one of their men programs to help men with cancer and family of men with cancer, that's what Loving Giving Local is all about and we're excited to be able to be here and bring this donation.' The Erie Cancer Wellness Center encourages you to remember them on Erie Gives Day, August 12. To learn more, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
24-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
I run a cafe and some of my workers are making $62-an-hour on public holidays. So don't complain to me about the surcharge on your order
A small business owner has defended public holiday surcharges arguing they are necessary to cover the insanely high pay of his staff who are 'earning CEO wages'. Ahmed Wassel is the boss of Drip Bar - a juice, smoothie and crepe cafe - that operates in Carlton and South Morang in Melbourne. He said staff are legally required to be paid more than double on public holidays and that he would make a loss without the surcharge. 'Public holiday rates are no joke ... legally have to pay up to 2.5 times usual wages,' he said on a video shared to TikTok on Tuesday following the Eater long weekend. 'We pay our team properly and give them what they're entitled to. That's why there's a surcharge. Thanks for supporting a legit small biz.' In the video he asked his staff how much they were getting paid an hour. '$42.18 to shuck strawberries,' one replied. 'I guess $62.45 I just clocked in,' another said. Another agreed she was on the same rate and added she was 18-years-old. Another worker who was stopped while taking the bins out said she was 16 and was getting $42.18 an hour for the day. 'I'm getting 0.001 cents an hour to blend bananas and vibes,' Mr Wassel said. 'That's why we have a surcharge, to pay our staff what they rightfully deserve.' Mr Wassel told Yahoo he usually had about five to seven staff on a shift. The week before Easter, wages had cost him about $7,000, but that jumped to about $12,000 a week when the long weekend public holidays were involved. He said his business applies a 15 per cent public holiday surcharge but with the cost of electricity, rent and super all increasing it was still not enough to get ahead. Social media users were divided over the surcharges being rolled out at businesses. 'Years ago public holidays would mean shops would close,' one wrote. 'Then they were allowed to open and then happy to make what ever additional money they can.' 'These days no small business can survive opening a public holiday without the surcharge except the ones paying cash but then a worker would rather stay home on Easter or Christmas.' 'Or just not open? If you can't afford to pay staff without a surcharge just close for the day?' another said. The Easter and Anzac Day long weekends saw diners slugged with about $24.6million in surcharge fees from hospitality business across the country. Businesses levy an average surcharge of 15 per cent in order to reclaim the costs of staff over the public holidays.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aussie boss defends controversial public holiday surcharge as workers paid $62 an hour: 'CEO wages'
A Melbourne juice bar owner has lifted the lid on how much public holiday rates cost his business, with some staff paid as much as $62.45 an hour. He said the reality was public holiday surcharges were necessary for staff to be paid properly and for businesses to 'stay open'. Ahmed Wassel, owner of Drp Bar, told Yahoo Finance it cost him around $5,000 more to open his juice and acai bars over the Easter long weekend just past. He usually has between five to seven staff working each day, who are entitled to penalty rates. 'Last week Friday to Monday with the same roster cost us just over $7,000 in wages, that's not including super,' Wassel said. 'This long weekend that's just passed, Friday to Monday, that cost us over $12,000 in wages. So it is a big jump.' RELATED Cafe owner hits back at customer's wild public holiday surcharge threat: 'Scum of the earth' Cash withdrawal nightmare exposed as Aussies try to win big on cryptocurrency: 'Blew my mind' Commonwealth Bank makes huge RBA interest rate cut call: 'Done deal' Drp Bar, which has locations in Carlton and South Morang, shared a video online where staff members shared how much they were being paid to work on the public holidays. Amounts ranged from $30.13 to $62.45 per hour, with part-time and full-time staff entitled to double their usual rate and casual staff paid double and a half. The business joked staff were "earning CEO wages" due to the public said the added costs were why it had to apply a 15 per cent public holiday surcharge. But he said it was still 'nowhere near enough' to cover the extra costs. 'That's not even factoring in everything else, so the cost of goods, rent, electricity, it does take a big toll,' he said. 'Energy just keeps going up. Rent is the same until the yearly review. Operating costs have increased, especially since wages went up and super went up as well.' Wassel said he and his business partner did not pay themselves for working over the long weekend. Aussies are still divided over public holiday surcharges. A Yahoo Finance poll of more than 7,500 readers found 63 per cent thought they were 'fair', leaving 37 per cent in opposition. Drp Bar also received mixed responses from their video. Many praised the acai and juice bar for paying their workers well, with some even asking if they were hiring. But others were critical of businesses passing on costs to customers and questioned why businesses opened at all. 'Just because you're incurring a cost doesn't automatically mean it should be alleviated by adding surcharges, customers aren't prioritised, only when they're paying,' one wrote. 'Why even charge a surcharge? Just raise your everyday price to smooth out your expenses for holidays,' another said. Wassel said most customers understood the need for public holiday surcharges, but there were still a handful who questioned it and 'huffed and puffed'. He noted Drp Bar had offered double point rewards to customers over the long weekend, with customers who spent $50 able to get a free drink with 100 points. "I don't like charging the surcharge, but unfortunately, it's just one of those things we have to do to stay open," he said. Lightspeed managing director Nicole Buisson said public holidays were often a 'double-edged sword' for hospitality businesses. 'Successive long weekends courtesy of the Easter and ANZAC day public holidays will provide a great opportunity for venues to increase customer volume, and therefore revenue,' she told Yahoo Finance. 'Despite seeing more foot traffic through the door, they also mean an inevitable spike in operating costs.' Wassel said public holidays were usually pretty good for business, but the Easter long weekend was a 'weird' one with people going away and the cost of living potentially impacting sales. 'We basically take a loss, to be honest,' he said. Despite this, he said it was still important for the business to open up on public holidays. 'It's not about always making a profit, obviously we're in business to make a profit, but we know people are out with their families and they want a treat and our customers do count on us to provide that service and be open for them,' he said.
