For those in the service sector, Hurricane Irma hits especially hard: Expense and no pay

Florida Today

Tyla Hunsche, like other service industry workers, lost days of pay from Hurricane Irma. She lost four and a half days pay this week and spent her last three dollars on gas. She is a waitress at Jenna's Breezeway in Cocoa Beach.

COCOA BEACH — Joe Lynberg, a bartender in Cocoa Beach, was looking forward to a popular college football Saturday and the start of the NFL season the next day.

It meant hundreds of customers — and tips — for the Merritt Island resident.

But, with last weekend's evacuation from Hurricane Irma — and the subsequent loss of water and electricity — he and his girlfriend are now looking at a week without a paycheck, maybe longer.

In less than a week, Lynberg went from optimism over the amount of money he'd be making, to worrying about the cost of a $2 water bottle needed to flush his toilet.

"I'm not sure how we'll pay our bills at the end of the month," Lynberg said. "I just lost my whole week's salary, plus tips."

Along with billions of dollars in property damages, Hurricane Irma has scraped off the veneer of living and working in a service-industry rich state like Florida.

Amy Vipond and Joe Lynberg just moved into a house on Merritt Island, using all their savings for first and last month's rent and deposits. Joe works at Slow & Low Barbecue Bar & Grill in Cocoa Beach and has been out of work for almost a week with no paycheck due to Hurricane Irma. They just spent their last $4 on water so they could flush the toilet.

More:Everything you need to know about Brevard schools post-Irma

More:Hurricane Irma: Titusville's Bay Towers residents displaced after storm — again

Many, if not most, of the 1.2 million workers employed in the leisure and hospitality industry have little protection if a business is forced to shut down because of a natural disaster like Hurricane Irma. In Brevard, some 27,400 people work in the leisure and hospitality sector.

Businesses typically aren't required pay non-exempt employees if they're not working because a business is closed. Some places may have purchased business interruption insurance, which could provide relief to workers on their payrolls.

That's one way to ensure valuable employees don't find another job elsewhere. But business interruption insurance isn't cheap, and many places decide to save money and roll the dice that they won't need it.

With hotels and restaurants closed from Irma, it is puttig a finacial squeeze on the employees that could lose days or weeks of pay.

That makes it very tough on their employees, many of who are scraping by as they clean rooms, wash dishes, serve drinks and desperately try to be friendly enough to generate a good gratuity.

"That is a significant impact to the service industry workers," Brevard County Housing and Human Services Director Ian Golden said. "Hopefully, most of them will have a business to go back to after the storm, and will have a job to go back to."

Compensating employees during and after natural disasters is a touchy enough issue that the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association published a question-and-answer section by the Tampa-based employment defense law firm, Johnson Jackson LLC on its website to advise business owners what they're liable for in terms of paying employees displaced because of Irma.

One question was: Do I have to pay non-exempt employees if they miss a few days of work due to evacuating the area?

Answer: No. "If an hourly non-exempt employee does not work, neither the FLSA nor the Florida Minimum Wage Act require the employer to pay the employee."

That puts people like Nick Murphy, the night manager at Pineapple Point restaurant in Cocoa Beach, in a financial bind. The prospect of missing work for a week is a little scary, so he's thinking about picking up another job.

"I honestly have no clue how I'm going to make up for the loss from Irma," Murphy said. "I take care of my mother, so I can't afford to be off much."

One measure that could help in Brevard, and throughout Florida, is Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Unemployment Assistance. The program provides unemployment benefits and re-employment services to individuals who have lost work as a result of a natural disaster and are ineligible for regular state unemployment insurance.

Payments under FEMA program are the same as the ordinary unemployment insurance program. In Florida, it's $275 a week. Benefits typically are paid for a maximum of 26 weeks. Unemployment insurance payments generally are taxable.

"There are a lot more people who are living from paycheck to paycheck than many people realize," Golden said. "It's not just the people who are at the poverty line," but many in the middle class as well.

Another financial burden for those workers negatively impacted because Irma effectively shut down their place of employment is that they spent hundreds of dollars prepping for the storm or evacuating.

Lynberg said he borrowed about $200 to purchase plywood, water and food to get ready for Irma

Somehow, he said his family will recover. They're just looking at some tough days ahead.

"We're not going to let that get us down," he said. "We're not quitters at all. Just not sure what to do."

Contact Price at 321-242-3658 or wprice@floridatoday.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @Fla2dayBiz.

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @bydaveberman