Home featured Hotel Lincoln in Carlton, Melbourne. Credit: Supplied Featured Small Business Featured Melbourne pub owners provide meals for stood down employees Ellie Dudley September 8, 2020 Melbourne hospitality businesses are banding together to create a service which provides food to their workers who are doing it tough. The COVID-19 Employee Assistance Directive (COVID-19 EAD) was created in the wake of the collapse of the hospitality industry due to the coronavirus pandemic. One of the founding members of the initiative is Iain Ling, owner of one of Melbourne’s longest standing pubs, Hotel Lincoln, in Carlton. Having been closed since March with a brief four-week open period in July, Mr Ling, who also runs two other consumer-facing businesses, says they won’t be able to manage much longer. “The hospitality industry has been left completely devastated,” says Mr Ling. “We’ve adapted by opening up a shop but that’s not going to last forever.” Under a reopening roadmap outlined by the Victorian government on Sunday, hospitality businesses won’t be able to open their indoor dining rooms until at least November 23, after there are no cases recorded in Victoria for 14 consecutive days. “When JobKeeper drops down in 2 weeks some of my staff are going to be pushed below the poverty line and I can’t afford to top it up. I just don’t know what we are supposed to do.” Related: “Businesses respond coolly to the Coronavirus SME guarantee scheme” COVID-19 EAD was started by two Melbourne bar owners, who were trying