No-Potential-1777 t1_ite8are wrote on October 22, 2022 at 11:45 PM

They most likely had workers comp insurance as you need to show a certificate to the city or town you operate in, in order to receive and maintain your common victualler license. Grafton is not the kind of town that will let you fuck around in this either.
The department of industrial accidents will also do stings and issue stop work orders ( which means in reality daily fine to stay open until you get coverage). They have guys that spend the entire day finding places that have their coverage lapsed or don't have it. They'll bust in the door with badges out like they're cops. You pay $250 for the day, call an insurance company and get a certificate emailed to you and you're good.
Although it's possible they didn't have coverage at all, I would bet this had to do with paying employees off the books, probably with one of them getting hurt and filling a claim. With no insurance paid and no wages to show, you've got a problem.

No-Potential-1777 t1_ite8ran wrote on October 22, 2022 at 11:49 PM

Just to add, the workers comp premium for kitchen employees is stupidly low, like less than 1% of wages paid. They may have cheaped out on delivery drivers or classified employees incorrectly, since the rates for that are like 7% if memory serves and are supposed to be paid on wages and tips.