Restaurants to mitigate health care costs by cutting hours

reply to post by newcovenant


So...

Your medium rare steak was already prepared before you got there

It has been that way in NY forever, at least for large chains. No, they are not running skeleton crews..... They hire 2 part time people for four hours each, instead of one for eight. As long as they keep the workers hours under the full time cutoff, they don't have to provide any kinds of benefits or coverage. With the amount of people out of work in their real professions, due to illegals, jobs getting shipped to india, smaller businesses going under..... No problem filling up all those part time slots.

Originally posted by Daedal



@newcovenant

"In the chain restaurants people are paid by the hour and if they can cut then they were over staffed. In this business it is already cut to the skin."

This is not true. I worked fast food for two years. Being overstaffed is always a problem because of turnover. Having 45 or 50 people on the schedule constantly, when it only takes 12 per shift to operate always happened because people would quit call off or get fired.

edit on 17-10-2012 by Daedal because: Edit

Been in the business for about 40 years.

Overstaffing is always a problem because of turnover?
Having 45 or 50 people on the schedule constantly, when it only takes 12 per shift

This is extremely bad management. It is not cost effective. It is a philosophy that already places zero value on the employee and uses him as a mule because you are paying a little over 2 dollars and hour for them. Place should anticipate the evening business and staff within one or two people give or take, not 30 to 40 people.

Do you think any of this will continue to happen when the employees have health coverage on their job?

If the business can't handle their employees heath care maybe this business doesn't deserve employees?
They are getting heath care at the cheapest rates available!

reply to post by Hefficide


I can vouch for this man's description of a sentence at that hellhole. 19 months served..nonconsecutively. I always gave that break policy the finger. Although I was never a cashier so I never had to have control of a till there.

This isn't about cutting hours to help pay for health insurance costs, it's about turning full time employees into part time employees so that the companies are not required to offer them health benefits. Workers that normally work 35-40 hours per week will be cut to less than 30 so that they are not technically full time employees. And to whoever said sick days cost the companies money, you have never worked in a restaurant have you? Those people don't get paid if they call in sick. It may be a wash if someone stays or gets called in to cover but often times they will just run a person short. Usually too, the person who covered the shift may have to leave early on a later shift so as to not get overtime. Its not common for restaurants to offer insurance to employees except for management sometimes( but not where I work). I have worked for an independent restaurant as a manager for over 7 years and have no health insurance through my employer. Health insurance has always been the one enticing benefit of working for a chain, but not anymore I guess.

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by newcovenant

 

So...

Your medium rare steak was already prepared before you got there

I saw a place that tried to make the Chef also wash dishes. That place does not do food business any longer because they can't keep a chef. No kitchen keeps people they don't need. In fact during the course of the evening as the flow of customers die down the kitchen staff dwindles to the essential and same in the beginning. Shifts overlap so you are only at full staff for about 2 hours at lunch and 3-4 hours at peak period dinner in any given day. More people do not help, they hinder a kitchen.

Originally posted by thefurryone
This isn't about cutting hours to help pay for health insurance costs, it's about turning full time employees into part time employees so that the companies are not required to offer them health benefits. Workers that normally work 35-40 hours per week will be cut to less than 30 so that they are not technically full time employees. And to whoever said sick days cost the companies money, you have never worked in a restaurant have you? Those people don't get paid if they call in sick. It may be a wash if someone stays or gets called in to cover but often times they will just run a person short. Usually too, the person who covered the shift may have to leave early on a later shift so as to not get overtime. Its not common for restaurants to offer insurance to employees except for management sometimes( but not where I work). I have worked for an independent restaurant as a manager for over 7 years and have no health insurance through my employer. Health insurance has always been the one enticing benefit of working for a chain, but not anymore I guess.

This was the traditional way the few places that did offer health insurance got to cheap out on their part timers. Now they can't do that. And most chains only covered their upper management, not the staff anyway. Now Health Insurance will be among the enticing benefits of working for anyone.

Originally posted by newcovenant

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by newcovenant

 

So...

Your medium rare steak was already prepared before you got there

I saw a place that tried to make the Chef also wash dishes. That place does not do food business any longer because they can't keep a chef. No kitchen keeps people they don't need. In fact during the course of the evening as the flow of customers die down the kitchen staff dwindles to the essential and same in the beginning. Shifts overlap so you are only at full staff for about 2 hours at lunch and 3-4 hours at peak period dinner in any given day. More people do not help, they hinder a kitchen.

Thanks for the already known and understood aspects of the business but THAT didn't answer my question

Originally posted by SLAYER69

Originally posted by newcovenant

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by newcovenant

 

So...

Your medium rare steak was already prepared before you got there

I saw a place that tried to make the Chef also wash dishes. That place does not do food business any longer because they can't keep a chef. No kitchen keeps people they don't need. In fact during the course of the evening as the flow of customers die down the kitchen staff dwindles to the essential and same in the beginning. Shifts overlap so you are only at full staff for about 2 hours at lunch and 3-4 hours at peak period dinner in any given day. More people do not help, they hinder a kitchen.

Thanks for the already known and understood aspects of the business but THAT didn't answer my question

I don't know what your question was. I didn't mention steak. I said restaurants cutting employee hours is not the end of the world for anyone, not the employee, not the customer and not the restaurant. You apparently disagree.

reply to post by newcovenant


They will now screw virtually all of their employees by employing part time workers almost exclusively. The article says that only full time employees working 30 hours or more have to be offered benefits, so Darden is testing 29.5 hour work weeks to make sure they don't have to offer benefits. What it doesn't say is that this will likely make the corporation a lot more money because instead of providing more workers with health benefits, many employees who currently have health benefits will lose them due to no longer being full time.

Originally posted by newcovenant
I don't know what your question was. I didn't mention steak. I said restaurants cutting employee hours is not the end of the world for anyone, not the employee, not the customer and not the restaurant. You apparently disagree

You said...

Originally posted by newcovenant
How much customer service have you BEEN getting in the chain restaurants? I guess I am going to the wrong places because mine are mostly self serve and they have the food ready before I can drive the car a few feet

I asked...

Originally posted by SLAYER69
So...

Your medium rare steak was already prepared before you got there

Then you went on to explain the basic and widely known fundamentals of the restaurant business...

Originally posted by newcovenant
I saw a place that tried to make the Chef also wash dishes. That place does not do food business any longer because they can't keep a chef. No kitchen keeps people they don't need. In fact during the course of the evening as the flow of customers die down the kitchen staff dwindles to the essential and same in the beginning. Shifts overlap so you are only at full staff for about 2 hours at lunch and 3-4 hours at peak period dinner in any given day. More people do not help, they hinder a kitchen.

Now, can you explain how that answered my question?

Originally posted by thefurryone
reply to post by newcovenant

 

They will now screw virtually all of their employees by employing part time workers almost exclusively. The article says that only full time employees working 30 hours or more have to be offered benefits, so Darden is testing 29.5 hour work weeks to make sure they don't have to offer benefits. What it doesn't say is that this will likely make the corporation a lot more money because instead of providing more workers with health benefits, many employees who currently have health benefits will lose them due to no longer being full time.

That is one of the hazards of the business. Then people can find better jobs and the lousy places will wind up with the lousy employees and eventually go out of business because they deserve it. This grows a stronger more vibrant economy and thins out the herd. Doesn't it?

reply to post by SLAYER69


I guess you were trying to say I am unaware the kitchen employs people and they are not all tipped employees? Truthfully I still don't know what your trying to say. You have fast food restaurants that serve steak? Ours are of the burger, taco and chicken variety. I don't know of any that serve steak (MR btw) and I still don't get your point. Sorry. Whatever. Besides, well past my time for bed! Got to get up and work in the morning. Been great running around in circles with you.

Simple business 101 even those who claim to be in the business can understand this concept.

When it costs more to keep the doors open than they take in they either :

Lay off people
Cut hours.

Most business in the past 4 years in a lousy economy have already had to make adjustments the healthcare garbage adds more to business overhead.

Business has the option to pass healthcare costs on to the employee which most already do but that still leaves the employer paying for workmans comp,SS benefits, and that employees unemployment insurance.

Then some genius said everyone needs healthcare!!!

For which if the employers could have afforded they would already be providing it, and sorry if this is going to upset people, but oh well.

The employer does not exist to give employees everything their little hearts desire, they are in it to make money, they take all the risk, sweat the most, and when the crap hits the fan they are the ones who always get the blame.


There were a lot of waivers passed out because the care act was a total piece of crap.

Originally posted by newcovenant
I guess you were trying to say I am unaware the kitchen employs people and they are not all tipped employees?

No

Truthfully I still don't know what your trying to say. You have fast food restaurants that serve steak?

No

Ours are of the burger, taco and chicken variety. I don't know of any that serve steak (MR btw) and I still don't get your point. Sorry. Whatever. Besides, well past my time for bed! Got to get up and work in the morning. Been great running around in circles with you.

Not all chains are "Fast food joints" some chains are of the real nice sit down restaurant variety where they have a nice atmosphere and pleasant ambiance which now will have even lower houred uninsured staff and slower service.

Night.

reply to post by SLAYER69


I don't know how he doesn't understand that. Chain does not equal fast food. Most dine in restaurants are chains.

Applebees, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chilis, Hard Rock Cafe, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Yokoso, you get the drift by now I think.

I also don't know where this confusion comes from about staffing. Right now rather than having 1 person work 40 hours, they will have 2 people working 20 hours. Same hours, same staffing, but each employee is now in a really bad situation.

I liked the part where the article said "puts unique challenges on chain restaurants". Yes, those same chain restaurants that sell a pizza for $10-15 that only cost $2-4. The greed within this country is like a cancer that infects and destroys everything it comes into contact with. As if chain restaurants weren't already cutting hours and treating their employees like cattle before this.

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by newcovenant

 

So...

Your medium rare steak was already prepared before you got there

In most chain restaurants? To a point. If you order a medium rare steak, chances are you're going to get a thicker cut than a well done order. This is because restaurants no longer go through an actual training process to teach people how to even cook a steak. That steak you ordered was probably cut and prepped in the morning so the line cook could throw it on a grill and set a timer.

Have you ever worked in one of these restaurants?

Originally posted by Dishonored
I liked the part where the article said "puts unique challenges on chain restaurants". Yes, those same chain restaurants that sell a pizza for $10-15 that only cost $2-4. The greed within this country is like a cancer that infects and destroys everything it comes into contact with. As if chain restaurants weren't already cutting hours and treating their employees like cattle before this.

Give me a breakdown of how you get $2 a pizza. Breakdown the expenses.

reply to post by OccamsRazor04


I don't like chain restaurants but, food costs a lot more than most people think and I'm gonna sound like a chain apologist here. Chains do get some volume discounts, but they usually have to buy from select distributors. They don't get to shop around for prices. Then they have to pay franchise fees(a lot of chains are actually franchises).
You would be surprised how many loss leaders than chains run. Even if they don't actually lose money on a sale, it's hard to make money a nickel at a time. You have to do an incredible volume. The $5 pizzas at Littles Ceasars comes to mind. I don't know that the food cost would be $2, but I'll bet it's not a lot more. Even so, they only sell them for $5 and the difference isn't all profit. Most of that goes to other costs. Even if they net $1 on each one, how many can each store sell everyday? McDonald's is likely netting pennies on the dollar menu items that make up a huge percentage of their sales. Changes in costs that are pennies here and there turn into millions of dollars when you take volume into account. It's not hard to understand why these companies work they way they do, but it's the employees that are already struggling to survive that get screwed again.