Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants are putting more workers on part-time status to limit the impact of Obamacare coming in 2013.
Quote:
NEW YORK ? The owner of Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants is putting more workers on part-time status in a test aimed at limiting the impact of looming health coverage requirements.
Darden Restaurants Inc. declined to give details but said the test is only in restaurants in four markets across the country. The test entails increasing the number of workers on part-time status, meaning they work less than 30 hours a week. Under the new health care act, companies will be required to provide health care to full-time employees by 2014. That would significantly boost labor costs for businesses.
About 75 percent of Darden?s employees are currently part-timers.
Bob McAdam, who heads government affairs and community relations for Darden, said the company is still learning from the tests, which was first reported by the Orlando Sentinel.
?We?re not at a point where we have results,? he said. McAdam also noted that Darden is not alone in looking at ways to keep labor costs in check.,
Darden, based in Orlando, Fla., has made cost cutting a priority in recent years as sales growth and traffic have stalled at its flagship chains. In the most recent fiscal quarter, the company?s restaurant labor costs were 31 percent of sales. That?s down from 33 percent three years ago.
The reduction was driven by several factors. Given the challenging job market, Darden has been able to offer lower pay rates to new hires. Bonuses for general managers have been reduced as sales have stagnated. Servers at Red Lobster are handling four tables at a time, instead of three.
And last year, the company also put workers on a ?tip sharing? program, meaning waiters and waitresses share tips with other employees such as busboys and bartenders. That allows Darden to pay more workers a far lower ?tip credit wage? of $2.13, rather than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
Darden isn?t the only restaurant chain looking at managing labor costs. This summer, McDonald?s Corp. Chief Financial Officer Peter Bensen noted in a conference call with investors that the fast food company was looking at the many factors that will impact health care costs.
that is their incentive to do so, if they treat workers badly they will leave
besides it is a game they are using to convince people to vote how they want
but lets take this in perspective, these people wont have health insurance either way, the restaurant needs certain coverage so they have to hire more people, so yes some people get fewer hours but more people overall are now employed, less unemployment costs and lower unemployment rate.
I don't see any major losers here, but a win.
oh by the way the CEO took home 8.1 million in compensation last year....
the company has a p/e of 14.99 and a dividend of 3.6%
so really struggling - rolls eyes
this is a cheap grab to increase profits and be able to use someone else as an excuse, businesses do this ALL the time, wake up and open your eyes.
this is a cheap grab to increase profits and be able to use someone else as an excuse, businesses do this ALL the time, wake up and open your eyes.
Healthcare (homecare) workers in my area are kept below 40 hpw for the same reason. Obamacare is just adding to the problem. If you have a business keep it below 50 employees.
Maybe cooperation is needed, Obama will get old but the economic problem is still young and strongly existing. One of the biggest line items in the federal budget is Medicare, the medical care plan for seniors. Fraud is already a large cost, but a dastardly practice in the gray area between scam and legitimate care is Medicare overbilling. A recently-released study suggests numerous doctors are submitting Medicare claims for more costly codes than they should be.
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