Human Resources | August 2013 | By Christine Blank

Paid In Full?

The wage debate is heating up as advocacy groups attempt to unionize fast-food workers and the government considers a minimum-wage increase.

Fast food restaurant employees across the country are protesting wages.
courtesy / Photo by Christopher Dilts


While different operators have different opinions on the validity of the right to unionize and demand higher wages, the recent activity has at the very least called into question the appropriate way to go about wages in quick service. Operators, who by and large have very low profit margins—the typical restaurant has earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization (EBITA) of around 3 percent, according to the National Restaurant Association (NRA)—are left to figure out how much they can pay employees and remain profitable, while also helping them make ends meet and be satisfied with their jobs.

It’s a decision that, of course, is first influenced by national law. During this year’s State of the Union address,

President Barack Obama proposed raising the minimum wage to $9 per hour. And earlier this year, the Fair Minimum Wage Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, proposing that the national minimum wage be hiked from its current $7.25 per hour to $10.10 an hour by 2015. Every year after that, the minimum wage would be adjusted to keep in line with inflation.

For their part, restaurant industry influencers are opposed to minimum wage hikes.

“I don’t support raising the national minimum wage. The average restaurant company can’t do that without some very serious price-raising. It is terrible for the industry and the consumer, and has a ripple effect throughout the entire economy,” says Don Fox, CEO of Firehouse Subs. “There is not a lot of wiggle room left, especially if the operator has debt in its business. Plus, labor is one of the industry’s highest line items.”

The NRA is also against raising the federal minimum wage—particularly to $15 per hour, as some labor unions are pushing for—because it would have severe consequences on national unemployment. Scott DeFife, executive vice president of policy and government affairs for the NRA, says wages that high will cripple job availability.

“Labor costs are estimated to be about a third of a typical restaurant’s operating budget,” DeFife says. “If the minimum wage doubles, that is going to have a significant impact on the price of dining out and food costs, and a decrease in jobs.”

In addition, the NRA views current legislative proposals as essentially a moot point. DeFife says minimum-wage debates tend to come and go every few years, and that proponents for this year’s Fair Minimum Wage Act don’t have enough support to move the bill.

Of course, most restaurants do care about paying employees fair wages. Fox says Firehouse Subs franchisees pay their employees higher than their state’s minimum wage when they can, depending on the market. “For example, we have a restaurant in a real booming area of Texas where it is very difficult to get employees,” he says. “The operator in that market is paying well above minimum wage—in some cases, more than double.”

Like Fox, many quick-serve executives would like to pay their employees more than the minimum wage when possible. But they are usually not able to do so on a national scale, says Brent Giddens, managing partner for the Los Angeles office of labor and employment law firm Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger LLP, which represents regional and national quick-service chains.

“From our clients’ perspective, a mandated increase in minimum wage would not be welcome because of the impact on jobs and the ability to remain competitive,” he says. “Some markets could withstand it, and some markets could not.”

For example, California has a state minimum wage of $8 per hour. A national minimum wage hike above that level would not only require an increase in pay for hourly employees, but also for some California-based salaried employees. Giddens says a requirement for most salaried employees in California to maintain exempt status is they must be paid at least twice the minimum wage. If the national minimum wage was increased to $10.10, he says, the yearly minimum for salaried employees to maintain exempt status would be more than $42,000 a year.

In fact, the higher minimum wage in California and other states and cities is one of the primary reasons that a federal minimum wage hike is unnecessary, DeFife says.

“The important thing to remember is that the state and local governments are very active … in raising their minimum wage,” he says. “More than half of the country operates on something other than the federal minimum wage already.”

Many quick-service brands contend that an increase in the federal minimum wage would be too costly for their companies. Steak ‘n Shake CEO Sardar Biglari said at this year’s Biglari Holdings shareholder meeting that an increase in the minimum wage to $9 an hour would cost the company $12 million, while an increase in the minimum wage to $10 would cost the company $27 million.

However, one of the rallying cries for advocates of higher fast-food wages centers on the fact that some of the quick-service chains subject to worker strikes and labor union organization in recent months are actually profitable enough to afford
the wage hikes.

“I just find the line that they cannot afford to pay higher wages does not hold water, when you look at the profits they are making,” says Tsedeye Gebreselassie, an attorney with the National Employment Law Project. “McDonald’s posted $5.5 billion in profits last year and Yum! Brands had $1.6 billion in profits.” She adds that some limited-service restaurant chains pay their employees more than the national minimum wage, “and they are doing just fine.”

“Multibillion-dollar companies are making record profits. They can afford to make wage changes,” says Jonathan Westin, director of advocacy group Fast Food Forward and executive director of New York Communities for Change, which supports low-income individuals. McDonald’s corporate office, he says, typically defers to its franchisees when confronted about its wages. “Everything we have heard from McDonald’s Corporate is that it’s the franchisees’ responsibility. It’s a lot more controlled than they let on; we know the corporate office controls [everything, down to] how much sauce gets put on a Big Mac.”

In a statement to QSR, McDonald’s USA defended its compensation practices. “Employees are paid competitive wages in accordance with all federal and state wage laws, and have access to a range of benefits to meet their individual needs,” the statement says.

DeFife says labor unions spend too much time focusing on the high wages of CEOs who are running multimillion-dollar quick-serve chains.

“They like to focus on the brand’s CEO and not the person who is actually operating the franchise and the stores,” he says. “Running a national corporation is very different than running five stores in Chicago, for example.”

Further, the purpose behind strikes against quick-serve chains, DeFife says, is not necessarily to benefit or organize quick-serve workers. “By focusing on our industry, they use it to make a point that they can turn into benefitting workers in other industries,” he says. Labor unions that are organizing the strikes are realistic that they will not organize quick-serve workers into unions, he adds. “Most of the young workers have never seen a great value in paying the union dues.”






















Everyone should get paid what they are worth AND what the market can bear.The person who runs items over a scanner can only be worth a certain amount; even if a college grad.Fast food work has a similar value due to repetition.However, the PACE is significantly faster, and as such, more demanding.What fast food hasn't figured out is that it is LESS EXPENSIVE to KEEP good workers by paying them a bit more.Get rid of workers early who will not work out."Overpay" great workers, and you'll never pay to advertise, interview, train, and manage people who love their job and show up on time, everyday.

How is paying minimum wage the same as paying "competitive wages" as McDonalds claims? If your sports team has the worst record in the league, it is not "competitive."

Shooting at the established fast food and quick serves is tough. They all run 1960's business models. It is not their fault. Things are different now. You can't take a Wendy's and start paying $15 an hour as their model is set up for $8-$9.I don't blame anyone for being unhappy with $8.75 an hour. You would need to live either with your parents or on welfare. Again, the business model can't afford a higher rate. I love the unions..."McDonald's made $5.5B last year." What the heck does that have to do with anything? Study their annual report. A fast food unit in Manhattan does 5 times the volume of a suburban unit. They could probably handle the increase, but, the suburban unit is not set up for that kind of pay.When Henry Ford started up Ford Motors he designed the company to pay the highest wages in the world. A fast food unit is NOT designed to pay high wages. I will throw this out, if you are "starting up" a new QSR concept and are relying on a business model that pays $9/hr? Our new transparent society is going to yell at you. "Sustainability" isn't just about your paper goods anymore, it is about the community impact of low wages.

So many states get away with a pittance for a minimum wage. For instance, if you live in Idaho (Florida, Texas, or any other number of states), they have written a law that permanently defines state minimum wage as $3.25. But because federal law is $7+ right now, your "tips" can be counted as part of your wages to make it up to the federal minimum wage.If you live in a small town, or a town whose population is made up of a primarily temporary population (university), tips rarely add up to federal minimum wage, let alone more than that. So you will always be stuck at federal minimum wage.If you are single, you might BARELY be able to squeeze by on that. If you have children, there is no way to make ends meet without food stamps, state paid medical benefits, and subsidized housing, and subsidized childcare. If they are available.Yet, there are politicians who are trying their hardest to discontinue all of this. They propose that all of these programs are being taken advantage of by people who are lazy and don't pay their fair share. How can they pay their fair share when they can barely keep food on the table and a roof over their heads?Politicians are making sure that they break the system and then keep it broken so that people will feel the need to get rid of government. We need government. What we don't need is for our government to be bought by the highest bidder.

Higher wages=higher prices, period. Remember "spiraling inflation" in the 1970's and 1980's? High union wages led to higher prices. Someone has to pay for the increases. As a restaurant owner, I have held prices for 5 years. My food costs, labor, and all other expenses have increased. My profit margins are lower. The only way we make up for the increases is higher volume.

$15 per hour for flipping burgers = $10 burgers.$10 burgers = No more customers.No more customers = No more burger joints.No more burger joints = You just lost your job, you idiot!

It doesn't matter if the minimum wage goes up as high as $30-$50 per hour. The owner will never lose the bottom line profit because of an idiot worker. Minimum wage goes up? You will lose hours to make up for that. You actually think you can picket and get the minimum wage raised and then keep the same hours you have now? Lol There is no law that states you have to have certain hours. None. Once you get your $15, you will only get 10-15 hours per week, and most likely less. The owners can also fire half the staff to make up for it and make the remaining half work twice as hard. Dont like it? Quit.You will NEVER get ahead this way. Never. All business owners will compensate for the increase and the employee will always be on the losing end. Watch. they'll all stare at their boss with shocked faces when they lose all their hours or get fired. I got a raise and never got called for an assignment again. The good news? I qualified for unemployment AND disability and got to stay home while getting paid for two years. Life goes on. Take advantage of the system. It will never work in your benefit people. Don't be fooled.

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