by James Smithwick
Like it or not, Obamacare is here to stay. American voices have been heard on both sides of this issue, from what benefits are to be offered, to who will pay for it.
According to some very successful business owners though, if customers plan on eating their food, it’s the customer that will pay.
John Metz is the owner of several Hurricane Grill and Wings restaurants in Florida, as well as the owner of RREMC, the business group that owns more than 40 Denny’s eateries in central Florida in Orange and Volusia, as well as the surrounding counties. He thinks it’s the customer’s responsibility to cover the costs of Obamacare for his employees to the tune of and extra five percent tacked on to every check.
“If I leave the prices the same, but say on the menu that there is a five percent surcharge for Obamacare, customers have two choices. They can either pay it and tip 15 or 20 percent, or if they really feel so inclined, they can reduce the amount of tip they give to the server, who is the primary beneficiary of Obamacare,” Metz recently said in an interview with The Huffington Post.
Let that sink in for a moment. If customers disapprove of the surcharge Metz adds to their check, they are free to pay it and deduct the overage from the tip they would leave to the server, in essence paying for their federally mandated healthcare and reducing the wage the server earns.
But it doesn’t end there. Metz plans to reduce the front-of-house staff to less than 30 hours per week, and cut his total labor force by as much as 50 percent.
Try getting your Grand Slam breakfast in a rush when that happens.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) currently imposes fines for employers with more than 50 employees that don’t offer insurance coverage for workers clocking in for more than 28 hours per week. So if Metz reduces his staff’s hours, and then charges every customer a five percent surcharge, what exactly is the surcharge paying for? Healthcare for employees that he has no intention of ever supplying.
“Papa” John Schnatter, of Papa John’s Pizza plans similar measures. Recently, the pizza chain gave away 2 million pizzas as part of an NFL promotion at a retail cost of approximately $20 million, but claims the costs of Obamacare will cripple their business. Economists cite that Papa Johns would have to raise the cost of every pizza delivered by a mere fourteen cents to pay for mandated healthcare. Remember that John Schnatter was a major supporter of the Romney presidential campaign this year; the ticket that promised to repeal the health care mandate as a first priority.
Darden Restaurants, a Fortune 500 company based out of Orlando, Florida, and operator of nearly 2000 Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, and Red Lobster locations will also reduce their labor force and hours worked soon.
So what does this mean to the average Joe working as a server to get themselves through college? It’s rather obvious. The jobs will soon dry up, and wages will fall for those lucky enough to have employment. The many restaurant workers that study in America’s colleges and universities and rely on meager wages and tips to survive will soon see their wallets getting emptier as days go by.
We as Americans can vote with our feet though, by walking out of these eateries and not buying their wares until they treat their workers with respect and dignity, and supply these laborers with a decent wage and benefits. Many other establishments will have no problem keeping prices the same and following the law. It’s worth noting that many of the provisos of Obamacare won’t go into effect until January 2014, but the aforementioned businesses plan on enacting these extreme cost measures immediately, a year in advance. Where will these pre-emptive dollars be spent?
These businesses, proclaiming the sky is falling are crybabies, declaring poverty while raking in increased profits every year. The Darden annual report for 2011 showed total sales from continuing operations exceeded $7 billion. Just a mere portion of this figure would more than cover health care costs for the eligible workers they employ. But to hear them tell the story, President Obama is killing us by trying to make sure Americans at the very least have the simple health care most other industrialized nations enjoy. These fat cats need to realize that while proper medical coverage and preventative health care should be a right of the American worker, having pizza delivered will always be a privilege most could do without.