California restaurants are laying off staff and reducing hours for other team members to cut costs ahead of California law that increases fast-food workers’ hourly wage to $20 per hour, taking effect April 1 It is reported that they are doing so.
In the months leading up to the wage mandate, California restaurants, especially pizza parlors, made plans to cut jobs, according to state records obtained by the Times. wall street journal.
Pizza Hut and Round Table Pizza, which was founded in Menlo Park, Calif., and operates 400 pizza parlors mainly on the West Coast, has hired about 1,280 delivery drivers this year, according to records large employers are required to submit. He announced that he was going to be fired. The Journal reported that this was before major layoffs were made.
Pizza Hut has already sent out notices to employees informing them of their final days.
Michael Ojeda, who worked as a Pizza Hut driver in Ontario, California, for eight years, received a note from Pizza Hut franchise Southern California Pizza in December informing him that his last day on the job would be in February. Ta.
Southern California Pizza, which operates 224 Pizza Huts in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, offered Ojeda a $400 severance package if he stays until February, the Journal reported.
But Ojeda, who told the outlet that he was earning hundreds of dollars a week in wages and tips as a delivery driver, decided to file for unemployment instead.
“Pizza Hut was my career for nearly 10 years, and it was taken away from me with little notice,” said Ojeda, 29, who supported her mother and partner with Pizza Hut delivery wages.
Representatives for Pizza Hut did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
A spokesperson for Round Table Pizza confirmed to the Post that the person who was fired was a delivery driver.
“We anticipate that third-party delivery providers will also see their business grow and require additional staff to do so. That being said, delivery service fees may increase and as a result of this continued transition. , customers will most likely see even higher prices,” the company representative added. “This is the reality of restaurants today.”
Brian Hom, owner of two Vitality Bowls locations in San Jose, Calif., is dealing with impending increases in labor costs by operating his acai bowl stores with two employees instead of the usual four. The Journal reported.
As a result, it took longer for customers to receive their orders, and prices also increased by about 10% to offset the wage increase.
“I definitely have no intention of hiring anyone else,” he added, according to the Journal.
Other popular chains, such as McDonald’s and Chipotle, also announced they would raise menu prices in California to help pay for the minimum wage hike the Golden State passed in September.
For some fast-food restaurants, the April 1 minimum wage increase for California fast-food workers will be as much as 25% above the state’s $16 minimum wage.
However, Panera Bread was ruled exempt from the $20 per hour minimum wage increase by Gov. Gavin Newsom because billionaires from several of the chain’s stores donated to his campaign, according to reports. That’s what it means.
According to reports, Mr. Newsom was seeking exemptions from the Fast Food Responsibility and Standards Act (FAST Act), which included an unusual cut that would exempt “chain restaurants that bake bread and sell it as a stand-alone product.” It was included.
Excluding Panera from payroll costs will increase benefits for billionaire CEO Greg Flynn of Flynn Restaurant Group, which owns about 20 Panera Bread stores in the state.
Mr. Flynn attended the same high school as Mr. Newsom, has been involved in business dealings with the California governor, and has contributed to Mr. Newsom’s political campaigns.
