California restaurants are reportedly laying off staff and reducing hours for other team members in an effort to cut costs ahead of a California state law taking effect on April 1 that will raise fast-food workers’ hourly wage to $20.
In the months leading up to the wage mandate, California eateries, particularly pizza joints, have established a plan to cut jobs, according to state records obtained by The Wall Street Journal.
Pizza Hut and Round Table Pizza — a Menlo Park, Calif.-founded chain of 400 pizza parlors, mostly on the West Coast — have said they plan to lay off around 1,280 delivery drivers this year, according to records that major employers must submit to the state before large layoffs, The Journal reported.
Pizza Hut already sent notices to employees informing them of their last day.
Michael Ojeda, a Pizza Hut driver for eight years in Ontario, Calif., received one of the notes from Pizza Hut franchisee Southern California Pizza in December telling him that his last day of work would be in February.
Southern California Pizza — which operates 224 Pizza Huts in the greater Los Angeles area — offered $400 in severance if Ojeda stayed through February, according to The Journal.
But Ojeda, who told the outlet that he made hundreds of dollars a week in wages and tips as a delivery driver, decided to claim unemployment instead.
“Pizza Hut was my career for nearly a decade and with little to no notice it was taken away,” said 29-year-old Ojeda, who was supporting his mother and partner on his Pizza Hut delivery wages.
@BipartisanClamLibertarian2mos2MO
No mention of the special exemption for the higher minimum wage for Panera Bread, owned by big contributors to Gavin Newsom. All the animals are equal, but some animals are more equal.
@L3gislat1ve2018Democrat2mos2MO
Panera is not exempt from the higher minimum wage requirements. I can't believe how many people still believe this lie. Just goes to show you how easy it is for people to buy into propaganda and conspiracy theories.
@BipartisanClamLibertarian2mos2MO
They were exempted and then announced they were going to meet those minimums anyway. Newsom said it was never exempt, but I hardly see him as a reliable source.
@L3gislat1ve2018Democrat2mos2MO
No - they were never exempted because 1) The law hasn't gone into effect yet (how can you be exempt from something that doesn't exist?) 2) Panera doesn't bake bread in their stores, which was the requirement for the exemption.
But now that the propagandists have let the lies out of Pandora's box, I hardly see people changing their minds on the matter. Sixty-six people and counting are agreeing with Clint's outright lie.
@HoopoeMariaRepublican2mos2MO
Kinda shocking -- why not just double prices to make up for it? Customers supporting minimum wage increases will surely understand.
@BetrayedExecutiveMountain2mos2MO
Good suggestion. The voters of the Peoples Republic of California should get the full benefits of their choices.
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
Is it justifiable for employers to lay off workers to cope with increased labor costs from higher minimum wages?
@9L4NWCFRepublican2mos2MO
it is reasonable to have to lay people off, the only other way is to increase prices of food and that will end up with less people coming to your restaurant
@Supr3meCourtLeahRepublican2mos2MO
“Economists have long debated minimum-wage increases’ effect on employment.”
This is not true. Economists know exactly how higher wages decrease employment, but Democrats ignore science and Google will force-feed journalists with search results consisting of university “studies” containing far-left embedded agendas. The more extreme a university’s leftist credentials, the higher the creditability weights Google hangs on their website so that search algorithms are sure to return it.
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
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