How to Check if the Business That Won’t Pay You a Fair Wage Got a PPP Loan

Summer’s ugliest trend is bosses pinning the blame for business interruptions on “lazy” workers. In July, Business Insider reported on a wave of signs posted in storefront windows across the country attempting to explain away closures or understaffing: “Sadly, due to government handouts, no one seems to want to work anymore.” A so-called labor shortage has found small businesses, plus giants like Uber and Lyft, struggling to find people willing to accept the status quo—AKA low pay and shitty conditions. 

Lucky for The Man, two forms of federal support that have allowed many people to say no to underpaid work are quickly coming to an end: $300-per-week pandemic unemployment benefits are petering out across the country, and eviction moratoriums are speeding to an end (alongside climbing COVID numbers). This means returning to the job market or sticking with a bad gig are two of a narrowing list of options for people in the U.S. who want a shot at healthcare and housing. 

But if you’re looking for a job (or currently trapped in one) with an employer who says you have to accept underpayment and that asking for more reeks of millennial entitlement, we’d like to remind you that there is one timely weapon in your arsenal: the power to check for PPP loan receipts. Dramatic reveals of employer scolding versus employer behavior have made headlines twice so far this summer: In June, a Jacksonville, Florida, location of chain restaurant V Pizza posted a sign in its window that quickly earned derision online: “Sadly, due to government handouts no one wants to work anymore. Therefore, we are short staffed. Please be patient with the staff that did choose to come to work today and remember to tip your server. They chose to show up to serve you.” According to Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate WSLS, the chain received more than $2 million total in PPP bailout money—which, notably, came from the government. 

In July, management at Blue Moon Café of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, posted a graphic with identical phrasing on its Facebook page—a move that later went viral on TikTok when workers walked out to protest underpayment and other management disputes.  A PPP loan search reveals the restaurant has received $142,585 in federal bailout money. 

Doesn’t this kind of gotcha sound sweet? Luckily, it’s extremely attainable. Search the name of your shit-talking workplace in covidbailouttracker.com’s database, where a VICE report from December 2020 report found the likes of Jeffree Starr and Man Repeller got big ol’ loans. Plug in some information like your company’s address to double check you’re gawking at the right business and just... see if your company’s name is in there. 

Better yet, do a little search if you see a sign scolding entitled workers in the wild—who knows what might come up! Your employer can make all the excuses they want about having used up their bailout money already (some loans went out in 2020, but a second wave was made available from January to late May 2021)... But the rhetoric and hypocrisy alone is a great litmus test for whether you could possibly have a positive working experience in that kind of environment.

Of course, PPP loans don’t have to be spent on wages alone, but they do have a limited number of ways they can be used. “PPP loans can be used to help fund payroll costs, including benefits, and may also be used to pay for mortgage interest, rent, utilities, worker protection costs related to COVID-19, uninsured property damage costs caused by looting or vandalism during 2020, and certain supplier costs and expenses for operations” according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. If you have the inside track as an employee and can prove that the money isn’t being used for its intended purpose, you can report that shit. Who’s lazy now?

Follow Katie Way on Twitter.