ASSOCIATION UPDATE

April 17, 2014- The LRA office will be closed tomorrow, April 18, in observance of Good Friday.

April 17, 2014- Area restaurants are "taking it on the chin," rather than raising menu prices on beef, despite record highs. LRA VP of Communications Wendy Waren was interviewed by WWL Radio. Read more.

April 16, 2014- The LRA Education Foundation has named Carolyn Senac of Mandeville as its 2014 ProStart Educator of the Year. Read more.

April 14, 2014- Today, Gov. Jindal and the Louisiana Dept. of Health & Hospitals Secretary Kathy Kliebert were joined by dozens of local supporting organizations, including the LRA, to launch the Well-Ahead Louisiana initiative, which will designate healthy places around the state that voluntarily champion and embrace health and wellness. Read more.

April 10, 2014- The LRA is pleased to name 17 Restaurant Legends from Galatoire's Restaurant in New Orleans. The recipients, with a combined 557 years of experience and service, will be recognized at a special ceremony at the restaurant Monday, April 14, 2014 at  6 p.m. Read more.

April 10, 2014- Join the Greater New Orleans Chapter Thursday, May 8 at Generations Hall to help decide who will be crowned "King of Crawfish." Restaurants from the area will be serving up their best crawfish dishes and attendees vote to decide who has the best. General admission tickets are $25 per person and you receive one voting ticket and one drink ticket; entry at 7 p.m. VIP admission is $35 per person you receive two voting tickets and an open bar from 6-7 p.m.; early admission at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here. Enter "King of Crawfish" in the search box.

April 9, 2014- The menu labeling piece of the Affordable Care Act is in the final step of the review process. According to the FDA, it moved the regulation, which calls for chain restaurants with 20 or more locations to list calorie information on menus and menu boards, and provide certain other nutritious data upon request, to the White House's Office of Management and Budget for review. The NRA will provide analysis of the final regulation once it is published so restaurateurs have a better understanding of what is required to comply with the law. Read more.

April 7, 2014- Couldn't make it to the LRAEF Louisiana Seafood ProStart Invitational? Check out our newest video complete with live action from the Culinary and Management Competitions and interviews with judges, students, instructors, LRA Chair Bruce Attinger and LRA President & CEO Stan Harris. Watch the video here.

April 3, 2014- Although we have warned of this scam before, it never hurts to be reminded. If anyone calls your business threatening to cut your electricity unless they are paid immediately, you should hang up and notify Entergy. This is the Entergy disconnect scam and it is spreading across the nation. We have had several members in the New Orleans area inform us that they have been targets. Read more. 

April 1, 2014- The LRA SIF Safety Seminar Webcast, "Chemical Hazards in the Workplace," is now live. Click the red box above, titled LRA SIF Safety Seminar, to get started. Participating in the webcast will satisfy the Safety Seminar requirement if a SIF member cannot attend a seminar in person.

March 27, 2014- Congratulations to our winning teams at the LRAEF Louisiana Seafood ProStart Student Invitational: Lakeshore High School in Mandeville won first place in Culinary and Hammond High Magnet School won first place in Management. Both teams will represent Louisiana at the National ProStart Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn., May 3-5, 2014. Click here to read more about the competition and other winners.

March 14, 2014- SCAM ALERT: Oregon company calls to solicit sales for "mandated" food handler training. Read more.

February 26, 2014- The LRAEF is now accepting applicants for its 2014 LRAEF Scholarship. Interested students should complete this application and mail no later than Friday, April 25, 2014. For more info about the LRAEF Scholarship Program, click here.

February 12, 2014- The Obama Administration recently announced that employers with 50-99 employees will receive Affordable Care Act transition relief. These employers have until 2016 to comply with the employer-mandate rule. Read more.

January 15, 2014- The 2014 NRA Public Affairs Conference is April 29-30 and registration is NOW OPEN. To register for the conference and view a list of hotels nearby, click here.

January 2, 2014- Effective January 1, 2014, the IRS will classify an automatic gratuity as a service charge, not a tip. The IRS regards service charges as regular wages, which must be reported for payroll tax withholding. This rule was issued in June 2012, but implementation has been delayed until now. Read this informative article about what is defined as a tip, what to tell your staff and why you may opt to eliminate automatic gratuities in the future.