[Ads-l] stage, to stage (restaurant industry) and stagiare

[Barretts Mail]

According to Bethany Jean Clement (http://bit.ly/2us6zQd <http://bit.ly/2us6zQd>, “The Willows Inn on Lummi Island to pay workers $149K for wage, overtime violations”), a premier Pacific Northwest restaurant has been told by the Labor Department that the common restaurant practice of using free internees is illegal. Clement says the word comes from French “stagiaire” (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stagiaire <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stagiaire>) meaning “trainee/apprentice.” 

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As the Labor Department notes, many restaurants rely on “ ‘stages’ (originates from the French word ‘stagiaire,’ meaning trainee, apprentice or intern) to supply unpaid labor,” both here and abroad.
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Wiktionary but not the online Oxford Dictionaries includes the word “stagiare" as an apprentice bicyclist. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stage_(cooking)) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stage_(cooking))> has an article on staging, but neither Wiktionary nor the online Oxford Dictionaries has this meaning of stage.

Four more citations:

http://www.cheftalk.com/t/66580/asked-to-come-in-for-an-interview-and-stage <http://www.cheftalk.com/t/66580/asked-to-come-in-for-an-interview-and-stage>
"Would you be able to come in for an interview and stage on the 26th at 3:30pm?"

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/21793-working-for-free/ <https://forums.egullet.org/topic/21793-working-for-free/>
This issue was brought up on another thread, but I wanted to start a new one to find out what the deal is. Although I do not work in a professional kitchen, I hear all the time about young upstarts doing stages for high-end restaurants. Nearly always, the restaurant pays the worker in "experience" in lieu of actual compensation.

http://www.alma.scuolacucina.it/en/alma_working_world/basic_techniques_course/catia_fornari.aspx <http://www.alma.scuolacucina.it/en/alma_working_world/basic_techniques_course/catia_fornari.aspx>
Ms Fornari did her “stage” period at the “Roof Garden” restaurant of the Hotel San Marco in Bergamo, under the guidance of Chef Fabrizio Ferrari.

https://www.institutogalegodovino.com/en/courses-en/professional-sommelier-advanced-course/ <https://www.institutogalegodovino.com/en/courses-en/professional-sommelier-advanced-course/>
300 hours to complete a Final Project or, alternatively, to complete a stage period in a restaurant and/or wine cellar (stage is optional and unpaid).

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org