Sounds like the value being extracted from employees was much less than the stress and obligation being put on them. If these periods are very high value to the

Sounds like the value being extracted from employees was much less than the stress and obligation being put on them. If these periods are very high value to the restaurant owner then over time they'll develop a higher hourly pay for these crunch periods. Another way to implement is a small bonus per table served. These are all solvable problems. But I agree it sounds like his largest argument is "some things will be different" and a bit of fear of the unknown.