HOUSTON — In 15 years in the restaurant industry, Nia Rayo had never had a real vacation.
Even when her mother died in 2023, Rayo raced to a waitressing shift after the funeral. Her then-employer gave her the option to take the month off, but she knew it wasn’t feasible. For industry workers, taking a break meant going unpaid.
“What would I do?” she asked. “Be broke?”
When her current e…
