Darden tests limiting worker hours as health-care changes loom

I see more and more businesses, opting out, on growth. Workers will have to do even more, because of Obamacare. WHY would a small business WANT to hire more then 50 people?

reply to post by sonnny1

Good morning, my good friend. I agree because under the present and potentially future edicts of Obamacare, when companies are FORCED to do something, they tend to resent it, and fight it. I would much prefer to allow companies AND employees decide whether they can afford health care insurance.
I know the old prof is stating something that I have stated before on ATS, but here goes anyway. When I was growing up, as a son of immigrants, our family was probably considered very low middle class. However, we always had 3 meals, because my father worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. When my siblings or I would get sick, our parents took us to the doctor. We got whatever medicine we needed. We had NO HEALTH INSURANCE, and even though my father did not make a great wage, we were able to afford the health care we needed.
THE REASON HEALTH CARE IS SO EXPENSIVE TODAY IS IN GREAT PART DUE TO THE HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES. (Yes, I understand that there are other factors, but many of them point back to insurance companies AND LAW SUITS.)
Peace.

The medicare roles expand, and (beholding) life-long Democrat voters along with it.

reply to post by sprtpilot

Yes, indeed. You have stated that absolutely on-target.

Darden was already in trouble. They can blame Obamacare all they like but the real blame lies with a weak economy and poor management.

Olive Garden’s same-restaurant sales have continued to fall, and the chain is expected to post a 2.5% drop for the current quarter. Same-restaurant sales actually fell 5.7% in November, accelerating from a 2.5% drop in October, according to a Darden release.

Darden Drops As Olive Garden’s Troubles Continue

Darden was already in trouble. They can blame Obamacare all they like but the real blame lies with a weak economy and poor management.

reply to post by KeliOnyx

I don't deny that at all. All one needs to do, is go to any downtown or suburban strip, and look at the restaurants that have closed recently. They are legion. However, those that are trying to survive are using every tactic they can to stay above water. Obamacare is just one more hurdle that they are facing. Although I am not voting for either party's candidate, I do agree with the Republicans on one issue regarding jobs, and that is the belief that the more restrictions that are put on businesses, other than common sense ones(which most businesses agree to anyway without the government telling them), the more likely they are to hire less employees.

I have to sign off for now, because today, we are harvesting a very high percentage of our crops, and processing them. I may be off ATS for a few days, doing this with my wife, so please don't assume I am ignoring any posts.It's going to be a very busy time here at our home.

Yet another excuse for these companies to screw their employees. Because, that is really what this amounts to. Screwing over employees. Neither of the companies mentioned are starving for profits. There is no reason why they do not continue business as usual with their full time employees.
It disgusts me that this country can't come together to work this issue out.

My questions are:
If they don't like the Darden policy, are they allowed to quit?
Are they allowed to find other jobs?
Are there other jobs available?

You all know the answers to those questions but Obama Care is not the answer.
It was passed without thought or ramifications. I know everyone needs insurance but we need someone to figure out the best plan and not just pass it to find out what is in it or how it will affect the country.

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


This is what all businesses were trying to do to people. They would divide a job up between 2 part timers for this among other reasons. They do not want to pay for the benefits and raises you are typically entitled to as a full timer. This is what Democrats are fighting against. This is why insurance outside of the workplace needed to be provided for people who were being shut out by their employers and turned down by insurance companies.

Originally posted by Nite_wing
My questions are:
If they don't like the Darden policy, are they allowed to quit?
Are they allowed to find other jobs?
Are there other jobs available?

You all know the answers to those questions but Obama Care is not the answer.
It was passed without thought or ramifications. I know everyone needs insurance but we need someone to figure out the best plan and not just pass it to find out what is in it or how it will affect the country.

Everyone wanted a Public Option but the Republicans fought that and so Obama thought he was making them happy by caving in to them. The next plan will be a public option because if Mitt takes away Obama care you are going to see citizens united in uprising against the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program. If politicians get reasonable low priced health care on the governments dime, don't you think the folks who hired 'em, gave them the job! should get the same reasonable low priced health care too?

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


There is an easy solution to this. Minimum wage act for part time workers. Mandate that employers who hire you part-time must pay 50% above current minimum wage. This will force employers to keep people full time. So if they hire a full time employee at the minimum wage of $7.25 a part-time employee must be paid at least $10.88. This would not only ensure more full time jobs since employers would be stupid to try to hire everyone as part time employees; any company that wants to deny people the income needed to obtain healthcare through creative scheduling will ensure that those part time employees are well compensated and able to afford healthcare even at reduced hours.

The goal is healthcare for all. I do not agree with the provisions of Obamacare, although I am for universal coverage to some extent. I would much rather see a competing government insurance program that operates not for profit. I believe Obamacare benefits private insurance companies and big corporate hospitals then it does any real good for our business world and personal health.

The real travesty in my mind is that we would almost do better funding doctors education and allowing them to work off their student loans after graduation in state ran medical facilities. Seems to be the more sensible solution to ensuring those who cannot afford healthcare at least have access to basic care.

reply to post by newcovenant


That is right the public option that Republicans did not want. I had forgotten about that. I thought this plan was perfect, in all sensibility. The problem republicans had with it is that an insurance plan that ran almost as a not for profit business would offer more reasonable rates then any private corporation operating to make a profit. In essence the public option was shelved, because millions of people would leave public insurance in favor of the more cheap public option. This would hurt private insurance profits. We can't have that now can we? In the USA everything is about profits, even life and death. We have a real dilemma in our country and it pains me to see people so stuck arguing politics we cannot figure out a way to make this work where no group bares the brunt of the changes, and no group profits from the changes. Obamacare stands to make the insurance companies very rich, once every American has to start paying private companies.

reply to post by seeker1963

What kinds of things has Obama done that would have upset the elites?

Originally posted by ExPostFacto
reply to post by newcovenant

 

That is right the public option that Republicans did not want. I had forgotten about that. I thought this plan was perfect, in all sensibility. The problem republicans had with it is that an insurance plan that ran almost as a not for profit business would offer more reasonable rates then any private corporation operating to make a profit. In essence the public option was shelved, because millions of people would leave public insurance in favor of the more cheap public option. This would hurt private insurance profits. We can't have that now can we? In the USA everything is about profits, even life and death. We have a real dilemma in our country and it pains me to see people so stuck arguing politics we cannot figure out a way to make this work where no group bares the brunt of the changes, and no group profits from the changes. Obamacare stands to make the insurance companies very rich, once every American has to start paying private companies.

True. But it also blocked them from certain practices which were common and will become common again such as not insuring young adults on their parents policy, not insuring for pre-existing conditions and simply cutting your insurance off when you really need it.

Back to Romneycare and we will see all these nasties return. And up goes our death count.

Not because he wants it but because his insurance buddies (and he has a lot more of them than O does for certain) They are gonna MAKE him do it because they PAID to put him in office and he owes them.

Originally posted by newcovenant
If politicians get reasonable low priced health care on the governments dime, don't you think the folks who hired 'em, gave them the job! should get the same reasonable low priced health care too?

This is what people don't understand. It's not the Government's dime, it is OUR dime.
Government does not make money. Any money the government has comes from somebody else.

reply to post by MsAphrodite


The Truth!!!!

People need to realize that the time to walk away from the system was yesterday. People can blame Darden, Obama, Big business or Daffy Duck. the fact of the matter is that it's only going to get worse because no one at the top knows what the hell they're doing.

They think greed can dig them out of the hole they're in, and they believe it so much that they don't see how they're digging themselves in deeper. They're running in circles........and we're following them.

Olive Garden isn't the only company doing this and they certainly won't be the last. What's stopping everyone in America from walking out, en masse, from their jobs? You want food? Grow some. You want water? Catch the frigging' rain for Christs sake. They may be extreme examples for some, but hopefully you get the point. Stop depending on employers, bosses, Presidents, whatever.....for your well being. If the majority of us common folk were on the same page with this, the system would stop indefinitely until some real demands were met . Demands that include, but are not limited to, bringing back all the manufacturing jobs that were shipped oversea's causing mass unemployment. It might not solve all the problems, but you gotta admit, it would be a helluva start.

But as long as people don't even want to entertain the idea of a country wide boycott of the system by simply not going to work, ( I heard all the gasps of disbelief as I was writing this, and then keep bitching and moaning about everything until unemployment reaches 50% .....America is screwed.

Originally posted by Nite_wing

Originally posted by newcovenant
If politicians get reasonable low priced health care on the governments dime, don't you think the folks who hired 'em, gave them the job! should get the same reasonable low priced health care too?

This is what people don't understand. It's not the Government's dime, it is OUR dime.
Government does not make money. Any money the government has comes from somebody else.

Oh yeah...well than that makes it better.

It can be done cheaply and efficiently if all you had to pay were your practitioners and the admin staff at the facility.

Who the f are these people, a virtual avalanche of middlemen come between that simple patient- doctor- wellness formula.

I remember going to the doctor and handing $50 cash for a visit. Do not let this industry become a for profit business outside of the doctors and hospitals and practitioners themselves. Of course they deserve our money for study, and curing us.

Absolutely but when I have to pay Tom Dick and Harry and Harrys effing dog before I even get to paying the doctor - YOUR MEDICAL COSTS ARE GOING TO RISE. Hundreds of thousands of dollars for procedures and "heart attack inspiring" room charge bills.

Medical care has risen exponentially and in direct proportion to the useless, parasitic middlemen that see a chance to make a killing (BECAUSE HEALTH IS A NECESSITY) and just like some vets know you'll pay anything to save that animal, they can be unscrupulous too.

It's called scalping.

Death and health should never be held in the balance or hostage to ability to pay. Doctors take their Hippocratic oath but the rest of these stooges did not. They have no qualms about "first doing no harm." They will harm you in a Brooklyn second. Fact is that's why they are there. Parasites.

The people who don't want you to have available affordable health care already own stock in the PARASITES that have been positioning themselves to make that killing as middlemen in the MEDICAL & INSURANCE INDUSTRY for the past 20 years.

This is what Democrats are fighting against. This is why insurance outside of the workplace needed to be provided for people who were being shut out by their employers and turned down by insurance companies.

reply to post by newcovenant

Actually, Obamacare, passed exclusively by the Democrats BENEFITS the corporations more than people. Let me give you a real example, not flowery hypotheticals.

Actual FACT: The Affordable Care Act(Obamacare) provides that insurance companies that do not spend at least 85% of your premiums on healthcare, MUST refund any difference between 85% and the actual spent. Now, most people get their insurance through their employer. In the case of many, the majority of those premiums are taken out of employee salaries OR retiree checks. They then send those premiums to the heath insurance company. BY LAW, the Affordable Health Care Act states that the refund is SENT TO THE EMPLOYER, since they collected the premiums from the employee or retiree.
THE CORPORATION IS UNDER NO LEGAL OBLIGATION TO SEND THAT REFUND ON TO THE EMPLOYEE OR RETIREE. They can use it ANY WAY they want, as long as its related to health care. For instance, many corporations are holding "health seminars" AND stating that the money went to pay for the seminars. Furthermore, even though the premiums were collected FROM the employee or retiree LAST YEAR 2011, if they change health companies in 2012, they can KEEP the money. PERIOD. Check it out with your congressman. I did, and HE ADMITTED that everything I posted is correct.
Democrats are in bed with the corporations, just as much as the Republicans are. They are BOTH CROOKS, and neither one gives a sh** about you as an individual.

There is an easy solution to this. Minimum wage act for part time workers. Mandate that employers who hire you part-time must pay 50% above current minimum wage. This will force employers to keep people full time.

reply to post by ExPostFacto


Unfortunately, if that were to happen, many full time employees would go to part time, to make more money, since most health care provided for minimum wage jobs is very poor, with very high co-pays and deductible.

the real message here ?

greedy CEO's and franchise owners would rather crap on their employees than offer decent benefits