Latitude 42 Raises the Bar With Decision To Pay All Health Benefits

In some ways, this is as shocking and revolutionary as when the Kalamazoo Promise was announced. WOOD-TV reports Latitude 42 Brewing Company will be offering full health care benefits with no premium deductions from employee paychecks. This perk will go into effect on November 1st and includes dental coverage and a life insurance policy.

At first glance, this move is stunning, as these kinds of perks only go to rich people or come with high-paying jobs. Workers in the foodservice industry rarely, if ever, get benefits like these.

Now, what happens next will be equally as fascinating. First of all, in a local economy where restaurants are having major difficulties with staffing, it will be interesting to see how this announcement affects that. And equally as fascinating will be how the rest of the restaurant industry reacts to this. And you can take that a step even further, and ask if this will put pressure on other non-restaurant-related businesses to keep up to be able to attract employees.

An average employee likely pays somewhere near $100 per paycheck for average health benefits, which probably adds up to somewhere over $200 per month for many workers. Maybe this isn't quite hitting the lottery, but it has the potential of making a big financial difference for the employees at Latitude 42. But then, business must be pretty good if the brewer can do this. Latitude 42 opening on Portage Road in 2013, and opened a second location on West Main in 2018.

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