Beechworth icon pleads with government to overcome staff shortages

Owners Marty and Jo Matassoni said "ridiculous laws" regarding staff being locked out from working if they were suspected by being infected were crippling operators and putting enormous pressure on the few staff they had.

Ms Matassoni said staff members were legally obliged to notify management if their family or flat mates failed a RAT (rapid antigen test).

"So they have to go into quarantine and isolate - effectively leaving us with fewer staff to serve the public," she said.

"We need to put pressure on the state government to allow people who have no symptoms to continue working.

"People who haven't been vaccinated should be able to still work with the safety measures in place."

Mr Matassoni said lack of staff was particularly problematic on the eve of the Easter break and the upcoming Golden Horseshoe festival which draws tens of thousands.

"Normally, we would set up a big marquee outside and serve hundreds of people - this year we can't do that because of this staff issue," he said.

He said the Victorian government's approach was hurting business and made little sense even from a health perspective.

"If people who are fully vaccinated and wearing masks attend a party, they can still spread the virus," he said.

"Here we have a situation where all our staff have to be vaccinated and wear masks, yet people who walk in the door [to buy takeaway] don't have to do either of those things.

"This doesn't make much sense to us."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: