San Francisco Employee Cafeteria Ban Headed to Back Burner

San Francisco’s hotly debated proposal to ban employer-paid cafeterias was sent back to the Planning Commission Dec. 10 following new amendments designed to encourage businesses and their workers to patronize small businesses.

Employer-paid meals are part of the local ecosystem at companies such as Google, Twitter, and Facebook—and employees expect the free food perks. The restaurant-supported proposal to ban new or expanded employer-paid cafeterias could hit employee recruitment hard in a city that had a 2.2 percent unemployment rate in October.

The proposal first introduced last summer called for an outright ban on any new employer-paid cafeterias. it was ...