Due to ObamaCare, Nation's Largest Movie Theater Chain Cuts Employee Hours

I live in a major metropolitan area. It's no great shakes to find a competitor to Regal where I can watch my movies, just like I did when I stopped ordering Papa John's for myself an my clients / customers.

In fact - it's easy to do this for just about everything.

Want a Hamburger? In-N-Out serves up cheap, tasty burgers and pays their employees well. Need groceries / sundries? Costco is just a little further than Wal-Mart and does right by their people too.

Thanks for self-identifying publically, Regal. It makes it easy to know my enemy.

Originally posted by WeRpeons
It's amazing to me how regular hard working people will continue to support corporations that have time and time again have shown the only thing they value is profit and greed. These corporations have rode the wave of success on the backs of their workers. Years back, many corporations demanded loyalty by their work force, yet their workers were the first to be on the cutting block instead of salaries of upper management and over paid CEO's.

They would lay-off workers and at the same time CEO's and upper management would be awarded salary bonuses. Talk about a slap in the face! The strength of this country came on the backs of hard working Americans that produced quality products unsurpassed by any industrial nation. That quality has declined immensely due to the greed of corporations looking for bigger profits and cheaper labor over seas.

The "poor business owner" has taken advantage of skilled labor in this country long enough. Don't value your workers, you don't deserve to be in business. Slavery and sweat shops went out a long time ago. Treat your workers with respect and value and watch your business prosper.

The same people who talk about the bank bail outs are the same people who shed tears for corporations that don't pay a dime in taxes, make billions in profits, lobby against raising minimum wages and breaking unions.
Let's not even talk about corporations who take out life insurance policies on workers who they think will die at an early age. The insurance is even written describing the insured as "peasant life" insurance. Die an early death and your company makes a hundred thousand towards company profits. Walmart is just one of those billion dollar profit companies who purchase life insurance on some of their workers.

Yeah, so all you peasants keep feeling sorry for corporations who have to lose a small percentage of their profits to help you afford to visit a doctor. The years of standing on your feet, constant lifting, or nerve damage due to repetitive motions for all the years you devoted for corporate profits and greed, just doesn't justify a company to invest in your healthcare.

Lets wake-up people, you talk about corruption in government, the banking industry, government, but you close your eyes to corporations who use us like sponges and spit us out when we cut into their holy profits. Give me a break!

This post is filled with class warfare. You simply can't hide your jealous, socialistic thinking. I read about half, then stopped...No one is telling you to get a job. However, if you want to work for a certain company, you do so KNOWING what that company is willing to provide. If you do not like the benefits that that company is willing to provide, DON'T WORK FOR THEM!

Do corporations do some shady #? Absolutely! But bad legislation isn't just relegated to affecting big multi-national corporations who can afford it. This will also affect the small businesses owners; the mom and pop stores who can least afford it.

I also find it silly that you blame 'evil businesses and corporations' while ignoring the biggest corporation of them all; The US government which has an income stream to the tune of $3.7 trillion. They are the ones who passed this abomination of a law, they are the ones who stand to benefit the most from it. Yet I don't see you blaming them for their business practices. Business has never been better for them...Typical.

reply to post by buster2010

The min wage has been basically the same since Reagan was in office

What?

Really expect people to believe that nonsense?

My first job was during the Reagan era at minimum wage which was $3.25 an hour it is considerably more thesedays.

reply to post by neo96


Energy, housing, food, and medicine are up near 500% since 1986, while wages are flat (thanks to inflation) to 1981. Knowledge is power.

Originally posted by 0zzymand0s
reply to post by neo96

 

Energy, housing, food, and medicine are up near 500% since 1986, while wages are flat (thanks to inflation) to 1981. Knowledge is power.

That's crap too considering most people these days make more than what their parents did at their ages.

As a business owner I take all the risk and deal with all the red tape. I had an employee that got a bad attitude after he found out how much I made on a particular job. He was making $32.50 an hour and should have been grateful, but instead he started telling my clients how I was 'ripping them off'. He was so angry because all I did was 'answer emails and phone calls' and didn't do the actual work...according to him. Well his jobs don't just materialize out of thin air and he also isn't privy to the loses I take when a job doesn't go well.

Business owners take all the risk and should be rewarded for creating jobs and opportunity. If you don't see that then you are just being obtuse. Needless to say I fired this person with cause since he was bad mouthing the company and trying to drive away customers. He now makes $10 an hour in construction. I am sure his new bosses just sit around doing nothing making no profit while construction projects just appear.

Originally posted by 0zzymand0s
reply to post by neo96

 

Energy, housing, food, and medicine are up near 500% since 1986, while wages are flat (thanks to inflation) to 1981. Knowledge is power.

This is why no one takes this site, or people like you srsly. Income has kept up with inflation. It has been slightly affected since "the great recession". However, nowhere near to the extent some of you conspiracy bozos would like it to be.

www.davemanuel.com...

So profits have become greed..

Since the inception of Obamacare there has been a growing tide entitlement mentality.

What's yours is mine, apparently. Businesses start because someone wants to make money. Obama steps in and declares how much you can earn. The rest, by government mandate, goes to others who didn't earn it.

What in the hell has happened to our society when a success is demonized and mediocrity rewarded?

reply to post by DarthMuerte


Honestly, I'm glad certain types of extreme-low-wage businesses are going to have to hire more employees so that they don't need to provide health insurance for their employees. I haven't worked the numbers myself, but I wonder if they're taking into account how much additional they will have in other expenses having all those additional 29-hour employees. Most likely not, and in fact, most will probably just let their service suffer as their employees are forced to work beyond reasonable expectation (especially foe minimum wage.)

Others will either step in, or thrive further in the case of those exceptions already paying reasonable wages and providing some degree of insurance. Those fast food restaurants, movie theatres, etc., will be the ones to soak up all the revenue no longer going to the "bottom line first, quafterlies second, and employees, customers, and long-term success tied for last" companies.

reply to post by DarthMuerte

I am ASTONISHED that 30 hours a week is considered full time,
but I fully expected hours and jobs to get cut in order to avoid heavy taxes.

If the employees working under 30 hours get a pay raise it could up moral. It's been proven that happier employees waste less and work harder allowing the business itself to profit from the better service/product.

Thanks to Obamacare, my husband's pay check is now $60.00 shorter every two weeks. This money was budgeted in to pay our electric bill.

Originally posted by DarthMuerte
Regal Cuts Hours To 29

Monday, Regal Entertainment Group, the largest movie theatre chain in the country, announced that thousands of employees will have their work hours cut -- as a direct result of the added cost of the new ObamaCare mandates that become effective later this year. In a memo to employees, management was blunt: “To comply with the Affordable Care Act, Regal had to increase our health care budget to cover those newly deemed eligible based on the law's definition of a full-time employee.” Fox News reports that, as a result of cutting employees' work hours (which is, of course, the same as a pay cut), full-time Regal managers have resigned in "a wave" after their hours and pay checks were slashed by as much as twenty-five percent. The manager told FoxNews.com ObamaCare has had the unintended consequence of taking food off his table. “Mandating businesses to offer health care under threat of debilitating fines does not fix a problem, it creates one," he said. "It fosters a new business culture where 30 hours is now considered the maximum in order to avoid paying the high costs associated with this law. “In a time where 40 hours is just getting us by, putting these kind of financial pressures on employers is a big step in a direction far beyond the reach of feasibility for not only the businesses, but for the employees who rely on their success," he said. In order to avoid the added cost of providing health insurance for employees working 30 hours a week (as ObamaCare mandates), it only makes sense for companies to schedule employees for 29 hours. So anyone who was working full-time is now being hit with a 25% pay cut.

So, who didn't see this coming? This stupid law is just going to hurt more people already struggling. This insurance company bailout program does nothing good for the average American. Mandating coverage has just increased the costs and reduced access. I hope you liberals are getting the "change" you wanted, because your messiah is demolishing an already ailing economy. The only "good thing" to come out of this travesty is that it may get more dimocrats booted from office. They will be replace by equally corrupt republicans though, so it won't help much.

Its not really Obama's fault though is it? Its the company being tight and deciding its not going to pay for its employee's healthcare

Capitalist's are to greedy.

reply to post by DarthMuerte


Lol, this has nothing to do with Obamacare, just everything to do with poor planning.

The movie theatre is just using Obamacare to divert THEIR responsibility over THEIR budgetcuts to Obama.
There are many ways you can do budget cuts, Obamacare is taxing but it is not the only costs they have and firing people is not the only way to solve their problem.

For a succesfull movie theatre example you can use Pathe which is the Regal's equivalent in Europe.
In the Netherlands we have had similar thing like Obamacare for over a decade now and that hasn't stopped Pathe from making millions of profit without firing any of their workers.

Originally posted by CALGARIAN
DO NOT BLAME Obama..

Blame the greedy upper management of the company.

If Obama raised the minimum wage to 20$, which is should be to cover cost of inflation and what not, and people started to lay people off.. would you blame him then?

Yes, I would. That clearly would stimulate unemployment. There is no such thing as corporate greed, only for-profit companies. Also, how many companies could actually afford that? Many people look at the income, but not at company profit. Maybe a Chinese corner shop has the income totalling (guesstimate) 1.5m. Then Mr. Average Chinese Corner Shop Owner (who we will from now on refer to as ACCSO):
0: First and foremost, Mr. ACCSO doesn't magic his products out of thin air so he has to buy them from very greedy suppliers. Since this is an average shop, he probably will have something like:
-Milk
-Coca Cola
-Cigarette
-Alcohol
-Other everyday goods.
Now, this would probably take over a half of our dear Mr. ACCSOs' income, bringing it down to around 650,000.
He will now have to pay taaaax:
1roperty Tax- Can't say how much.
2:Corporate Tax- 15% to 35% in US (NotinUSABTW©)
3:Gross Receipts Tax-depends on the state.
4:Sales Tax- Depends.
5:Self Employment Tax- 15% in US.
6:Franchise Tax- Depends on net worth.

So? 650,000-20% (If new business-Except Self Employment Tax)=650,000-130,000=520,000
Seems pretty good, doesn't it? Out there however, that is a pretty perfect situation.
In fact, a small business often gets as little as 100,000 PROFITS from 1.5m INCOME which seems abit sad.
Should you wish to pay yourself a salary, 15% off of that. Now then...
Why not raise the minimum salary to $1bn a year and state-employ everyone? Heck, we can just print more
dollars. Keep on printing dollars. All Americans deserve to be rich, so why not? Oh! And why not cover Texas in printers and feed Africa. We could destroy the farms WORLDWIDE and print more dollars there! We could stop poverty worldwide! Employ everyone in printing money and pay everypne 1bn dollaars! Destroy factories et cetera for more printing space.

Originally posted by Wildbob77
reply to post by 727Sky

 

How many people who have families work in movie theaters?

Around here it is mostly kids

Around here, I see 30 - 40 somethings working the movie theater, Mc Donalds, and other jobs that teens usually work. There's teens working there, but there's older people right a long side of them.

Originally posted by MystikMushroom

Originally posted by Wildbob77
reply to post by 727Sky

 

How many people who have families work in movie theaters?

Around here it is mostly kids

This is a good point. If you work in a movie theatre making minimum wage, you might want to wrap it before you tap it. Don't have kids unless you can afford to pay for them. If you're having to bring home left over popcorn to survive, you probably should't be breeding.

I agree with you, but this does not apply to all people. My husband and I have one child, and were very doing very well financially until 2008. He holds two degrees, and I hold one. They are degrees in which we SHOULD be able to easily find jobs with, but we can't. I'm back in school for my master's because there is no other solution. He had to take a job at a grocery store. It's better than not working at all. He's a good honest and hard working man... like so many other people struggling. We take what we can get when it comes to jobs. I just got laid off. We're in big trouble. We both wanted another child so badly. We planned on two. Our daughter asks all the time if she'll get a baby brother or sister. No, it won't happen because we can't pay for another child.

Sometimes, no matter how responsible people are financially, things take a turn and you've found yourself knee deep in crap. That's how it is. I don't want sympathy, but that's how it is for so many people in this country right now. My husband tells me all the time of the families on food stamps now... and how most all of them work here or there. We live in a small town and know just about everyone.

Originally posted by Cuervo
I owe every single damned bit of my success to my neighbors, my community, and my government.

So you are just a brainless tomato along for the ride?
Your brain and your drive and your push to do better and/or educate yourself are nothing?
Everyone else propped you up cuz' they are such good folks. Okay .. got it.

Originally posted by JohnnyCanuck
Nice to see how corporate greed always gets a free pass from some folks.

The whole point of a business is to make money.
It's not in business for public welfare or for charity.
A money making business like a movie theatre owes no apolgies for making money.
That's it's purpose.
If you don't like it .... then don't go to the movies.

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
Would that be the profits of the movie theater chain....or the huge profits that will result in obamacare going into effect? The BigPharma, Insurance Companies, corporate hospitals and the like who will be the ONLY beneficiaries of this alleged health-care plan

This is such an excellent statement that it's worthy of repeating just to make sure people saw it.

You nailed it. Obamacare is a huge cash cow for Big Pharma and Insurance Companies. By forcing Americans to all buy a product that many dont' want (health insurance), Obama has contributed to the so-called 'corporate greed' of Big Pharma and Insurance Companies ... all under the guise of supposedly helping the least fortunate of Americans. (and people believed that spin .... ) Obamacare is going to COST the less fortunate a whole pile of money .... but they think they are getting something for free and so Obama bought their vote with the usual offerings of 'free' stuff (actually paid for by middle class America).

Originally posted by StoutBroux
Something I haven’t seen addressed on ATS in regards to companies moving full time employees to part time, is that if a company has 50 or more full time employees or 100 or more part time employees, benefits must be provided. So what benefit to a company is it to move full time positions to part time positions? Has anyone else read of this?

www.nytimes.com...

In addition, the administration expressed concern that some employers might try to evade the new requirements by firing and rehiring employees, manipulating their work hours or using temporary staffing agencies. The rules include several provisions to prevent such abuse.
*SNIP*

The new rules apply to employers that have at least 50 full-time employees or an equivalent combination of full-time and part-time employees. A full-time employee is a person employed on average at least 30 hours a week. And 100 half-time employees are considered equivalent to 50 full-time employees.

Thus, the government said, an employer will be subject to the new requirement if it has 40 full-time employees working 30 hours a week and 20 half-time employees working 15 hours a week.

Your answer is in the quote. 30 hours is the magic number. The employees have to average 30 hours. That is why they are cutting everybody to 29 hours. Reading comprehension fail!