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Denny's to charge 5% 'Obamacare surcharge' and cut employee hours to deal wit


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2012 Nov 14, 10:34pm   7,874 views  38 comments

by zzyzzx   ➕follow (5)   💰tip   ignore  

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2233221/Dennys-charge-5-Obamacare-surcharge-cut-employee-hours-deal-cost-legislation.html

Florida based restaurant boss John Metz, who runs approximately 40 Denny's and owns the Hurricane Grill & Wings franchise has decided to offset that by adding a five percent surcharge to customers' bills and will reduce his employees' hours.

With Obamacare due to be fully implemented in January 2014, Metz has justified his move by claiming it is 'the only alternative. I've got to pass on the cost to the customer.'

Which will kill off even more jobs as people will have an additional incentive not to eat out.

#politics

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1   zzyzzx   2012 Nov 14, 10:49pm  

It doesn't allow me to delete.

2   Tenpoundbass   2012 Nov 14, 11:23pm  

Since when did Denny's needed an excuse to charge $8.99 for bacon and eggs?
I haven't stepped foot in a Denny's since I got a bill for breakfast, over $50.00 for 4.

I prefer Mom and Pop Diners, that knows me by name, and know I'll be having an ice tea with a cup of coffee, and bring it over with the menus, and a greeting.

Fuck Denny's for what ever the reason.

3   tatupu70   2012 Nov 14, 11:29pm  

zzyzzx says

Which will kill off even more jobs as people will have an additional incentive not to eat out.

Or people will simply eat somewhere else where owners don't use bogus logic to make political statements.

4   zzyzzx   2012 Nov 14, 11:57pm  

tatupu70 says

Or people will simply eat somewhere else where owners don't use bogus logic to make political statements.

Those places will be raising prices due to Obama as well.

5   FortWayne   2012 Nov 15, 12:05am  

If I don't like the price I won't go to Denny's.

They might want to improve their quality too, they are dated, just an expensive fast food chain.

6   lostand confused   2012 Nov 15, 12:11am  

The thing about a franchise raising prices is that you will find another Denny's close by offering cheaper prices for the exact same food. But agree-haven't been to Dennys in ages.

7   MisdemeanorRebel   2012 Nov 15, 12:20am  

CaptainShuddup says

Since when did Denny's needed an excuse to charge $8.99 for bacon and eggs?
I haven't stepped foot in a Denny's since I got a bill for breakfast, over $50.00 for 4.

I prefer Mom and Pop Diners, that knows me by name, and know I'll be having an ice tea with a cup of coffee, and bring it over with the menus, and a greeting.

Fuck Denny's for what ever the reason.

This is the second post in as many days that is dead on. IHOP also got ridiculous. I remember paying $10 for two eggs, two slices of bacon, two slices of toast, and a coffee in Miami Beach. You can get ditto at any little Cuban Diner for almost half that.

8   BobMSN   2012 Nov 15, 12:26am  

Simple arithmetic:

The value your created = Tax + Your salary + Profit to the investment

You can cut the pie whatever way you like. But don’t expect big tax and big salary the same time.

9   Tenpoundbass   2012 Nov 15, 12:34am  

thunderlips11 says

You can get ditto at any little Cuban Diner for almost half that.

Have you been to Senior Cafe on US1 north of Pembroke in the Presidente Shopping center?

Hands down the best Cuban Coffee in south Florida. And how in the hell do they NOT run out of Cuban bread. I mean they butter and toast a half a loaf with ever meal they serve, and they manage to keep every seat in the place occupied every minute they are opened.

Though there, I prefer the lunch counter, you can grow a beard before you get service sitting at the tables. Then you'll be ready for your next meal before they get around to bringing you your check then collecting the check and running your card.

I'll even stand and wait for a counter spot to open, as much as 15 minutes or more. The girls at the counter are Johnny on the Spot. Funny how that works.

Speaking of service remember Wolfies Rascal House on Miami beach?
I could never figure out how the youngest waitress in the place was like 69 years old, yet they turned customers over quicker than a smoke break. Then you go to Denny's and the like where the staff are all in their 20's and it all grinds to a screeching halt.

10   MsBennet   2012 Nov 15, 12:38am  

Our city upped it's minimum wage from $8.00 to $10.00 an hour, so our Denny's will surely raises prices.

I just got my sales tax increased by the state.
I just got my sales tax increased by the COUNTY
My governor wants to tax me more because we make a lot of money (In California it's not a lot of money)
My president wants to tax me more because we make a lot of money. (I should divorce my husband and then I won't be taxed so much and neither will he)

Since I have no pension I save money and now my capital gains will be taxed A LOT.

This is to saying nothing of what Obamacare will do.

Now all I can afford is to eat at Denny's and soon their prices will be too high.

11   drew_eckhardt   2012 Nov 15, 12:40am  

zzyzzx says

Which will kill off even more jobs as people will have an additional incentive not to eat out.

The job losses from the 5% price hike will be more than offset by the 42% increase in employees needed when he moves them from 40 hour full time schedules to 28 hours a week to stay safely under the cut-off.

The former full-time employees will have a harder time making ends meet, although they won't count in unemployment statistics that may have negative political ramifications. They'll also have an even harder time funding a PAC to get their situation changed.

12   elliemae   2012 Nov 15, 12:47am  

Dennys pays its waitresses minimum wage for servers - substantially less than minimum wage. If the server chooses to have insurance their paycheck can be a couple of dollars - or zero - for two weeks.

Considering that their food cost is less than 10% of the bill, their profit margins are quite healthy and general managers can make a shitload of money, this is just another rich asshole who is pissed that Romney lost the election.

13   Tenpoundbass   2012 Nov 15, 12:52am  

rdm says

Denny's last I read was in very poor shape financially, so this may well be an excuse to raise prices

I remember they took a hammering from discrimination law suits quite a few years back.
Because a few managers threw out a drunken rabble from a few of the locations in the south, and they were sued for discrimination.

14   Goran_K   2012 Nov 15, 1:11am  

I buy a weeks worth of bacon for $2, pancake mix $3, and dozen eggs $1.29.

Sure it takes me about 10 minutes to get everything cooked up, but no way I'm paying $11.99 for an IHOP combo.

15   rooemoore   2012 Nov 15, 1:25am  

The restaurant industry has always been a leader in denying health insurance to its employees. If you think about it for just a second, you realize their concerns are nonsense.

Their competitors will ALSO have to provide health insurance so the playing field remains level. Sure, they will have to raise their prices. EVERYONE will have to.

I can understand some businesses feeling screwed by this. My business competes with companies that outsource their labor overseas. Still, we've always provided health care, because it attracts better employees and it is the right thing to do.

If every country in the world enacted a living wage law - that businesses had to pay employees a wage that was aligned with the cost of living, two things would happen:

1 The world economy would grow faster.
2 Unemployment would go down.

16   Tenpoundbass   2012 Nov 15, 1:33am  

Years ago :_(

17   epitaph   2012 Nov 15, 1:41am  

Turning bacon and eggs into a political battle? I can't wait for him to go out of business.

18   MisdemeanorRebel   2012 Nov 15, 1:42am  

CaptainShuddup says

Have you been to Senior Cafe on US1 north of Pembroke in the Presidente Shopping center?

I'm sure I've passed it, but never stopped there.APOCALYPSEFUCK is Shostakovich says

Oh, god, please, don't tell me it's closed.

It's a fancy schmancy gourmet market, across from all the Trump Complexes.

19   Tenpoundbass   2012 Nov 15, 2:04am  

epitaph says

Turning bacon and eggs into a political battle? I can't wait for him to go out of business.

Oh but it's fine when the Gay Liberal movement politicized Chicken and Pickles on a white bread bun?

20   dublin hillz   2012 Nov 15, 2:31am  

Much better to have breakfast at home - how can you drink 2 shots of vodka or a bloody mary at dennys with your omlette?

21   Tenpoundbass   2012 Nov 15, 2:54am  

I try to explain the south Florida take on a good old fashioned NY Jewish deli to my kids, but it really gets lost in Einstein Bagels. The only thing left in South Florida that merely resembles one.

As for the native joints still left, I think "Tropical Acres(Steakhouse)" and "Tarks(Clam stand though down to one location)" are the only two original establishments left, from when I came here in 1984.

There's Rustic Inn(Crab joint) but it's no where near the same. And a few others that aren't worth noting for the same reasons.

22   zzyzzx   2012 Nov 15, 3:29am  

rooemoore says

Their competitors will ALSO have to provide health insurance so the playing field remains level.

Their competitors will also cut hours to below 30/week. That's how competition really works.

23   Dan8267   2012 Nov 15, 9:04am  

I call bullshit. Since when does Denny's or any other business charge customers as little as possible? All businesses price their goods at whatever results in the maximum profits. If they price the goods lower than that, then total profits go down even if sales go up. If they price the goods higher than that, then total profits go down as sales go down.

Every business knows exactly what that price level is. Running a business is 80% about finding exactly what that price is and zeroing in on it.

The thing is, this price level has only to do with supply and demand. It has absolutely nothing to do with cost. The price level at which profits are maximum is completely independent of cost.

Whenever a business says they are adjusting prices because of cost, including Obamacare, they are bullshitting you.

That pair of Prada sunglasses doesn't cost $250 dollars to make. It costs $1.25 to make. It is priced at $250 because enough people are willing to pay that much to make that price the point of maximum profit.

That "grand slam" breakfast doesn't cost $10 to make. It's priced at $10 because enough people are willing to pay that much to make that price the point of maximum profit.

24   Dan8267   2012 Nov 15, 9:06am  

FortWayne says

If I don't like the price I won't go to Denny's.

They might want to improve their quality too, they are dated, just an expensive fast food chain.

There's an old saying. No one sets out to go do Denny's. You just end up there at 2 a.m. because everyplace else is closed.

25   curious2   2012 Nov 15, 9:49am  

How might Denny's prices change if we stopped subsidizing corn? The combination of subsidizing unhealthy food and medical intervention seems to be enriching corporate executives at both ends of the feedlot.

26   Vicente   2012 Nov 15, 2:15pm  

Dan8267 says

There's an old saying. No one sets out to go do Denny's. You just end up there at 2 a.m. because everyplace else is closed.

Screw that, food is at home. Omelette is easy to make and cheap. If I'm on the road and starving I hit Waffle House, might as well get a case of the trots or a fresh cold from some fellow night stalkers. The things that eat in Dennys at 2AM are NOT HUMAN!

27   elliemae   2012 Nov 15, 2:27pm  

SFace says

Ellie, that is inaccurate. There is no way a restaurant achieve 90% gross margin overall.

A friend is a manager of a dennys - the food cost is 10%. Of course, there are other costs including labor, physical plant, etc on top of that. Almost all of the food that Denny's serves is made in some central area and sent frozen. Their steaks (which taste like shit, btw) don't even look like food when they arrive at the restaurant.

Come to think of it, they don't look much like food when they're served to you either.

28   Peter P   2012 Nov 15, 2:40pm  

Vicente says

The things that eat in Dennys at 2AM are NOT HUMAN!

Are they vampires or werewolves? What would these creatures do during cannibal anarchy?

29   MisdemeanorRebel   2012 Nov 15, 11:01pm  

Vicente says

Screw that, food is at home. Omelette is easy to make and cheap. If I'm on the road and starving I hit Waffle House, might as well get a case of the trots or a fresh cold from some fellow night stalkers. The things that eat in Dennys at 2AM are NOT HUMAN!

Waffle House, man those are Scary. I'd rather eat the grease out of the trap at Taco Bell, than take my life in my hands. I've actually never seen a clean Waffle House.

30   kentm   2012 Nov 15, 11:58pm  

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/11/15/the-corporate-blackmailing-of-america-is-now-all-the-rage/

"For the past week, I have watched with amazement as one restaurant chain after another—the very people who peddle the high caloric foods laden with the fat and sugar that have contribute so mightily to the nation’s health problems and the resulting costs—announced their plans to cut back on employee work hours."

...

31   zzyzzx   2012 Nov 16, 1:56am  

kentm says

the very people who peddle the high caloric foods laden with the fat and sugar that have contribute so mightily to the nation’s health problems and the resulting costs

It's not like any food chain is forcing people to eat food laden with fat and sugar, it's what the consumers are choosing.

32   KILLERJANE   2012 Nov 16, 2:02am  

Yeah but the premiums they will forcibly steal from the middle class will pay for the deficit. I will go from paying 4000 a year to 13000. I still don't use it. I never use. Their s a large fraud occurring once again. I should be able to not pay based on my own damn choice!

33   TechGromit   2012 Nov 16, 3:18am  

So let me see if I understand this. He's increasing prices 5% across the board due to Obamacare, and reducing workers hours so he don't have to give them health care. If he's not giving them healthcare, why the hell does he need the 5% surcharge? Sounds like someone is using Obamacare as an excuse to get richer.

34   Tenpoundbass   2012 Nov 16, 3:21am  

thunderlips11 says

Waffle House, man those are Scary

I saw a CNN article the other day, that had "Waffle House CEO" in the title.
I commented "Wait a minute, you mean there's a CEO, has he eaten there?"
and got a few hundred likes.

35   drew_eckhardt   2012 Nov 16, 6:29am  

TechGromit says

So let me see if I understand this. He's increasing prices 5% across the board due to Obamacare, and reducing workers hours so he don't have to give them health care. If he's not giving them healthcare, why the hell does he need the 5% surcharge?

Likely it's a convenient excuse to raise prices and make a political statement; although with a high enough ratio of wait staff to kitchen employees he could theoretically get there from Federal unemployment taxes, state unemployment taxes, compliance, and recruiting costs

The Federal Unemployment Tax Act wage base is $7000 and rate 6% against which you get a credit for state unemployment taxes, so for each employee earning at least $7000 a year you're out $420.

Federal minimum wage is $7.55 an hour; although employers only need to pay tipped employees $2.13 provided they earn enough in tips for their net pay to equal or exceed the minimum wage.

Tips are included in the wages against which employers are charged unemployment taxes, FICA, and Medicare.

Before Obamacare for 2000 man hours of wait staff work assuming 40 hours a week and 10 national holidays he may have been paying $420 + 2000 * $2.13 (minimum wage for tipped employees provided that tips take them over the $7.55 minimum) + 2000 * $7.55 minimum wage * (6.2% FICA + 1.45% Medicare which employers are required to pay on tips) = $5415 a year or $2.71 / hour

After for 28 hours a week over 50 weeks totaling 1400 hours he's paying $4210 or $3.01 / hour which is 10% more.

OTOH, 2000 hours of non-tipped work cost $16675 before or $8.34/hour
1400 hours of non-tipped work cost $11799 after or $8.43/hour or 1% more.

36   Dan8267   2012 Nov 16, 7:08am  

zzyzzx says

It's not like any food chain is forcing people to eat food laden with fat and sugar, it's what the consumers are choosing.

To a large extent true, but it's not like consumers have much of a choice. When 70% of the consumer base wants to eat shit, the other 30% aren't worth pursuing except for niche businesses which are typically only opened during peak hours.

When was the last time you saw a 24-hour Salad Creations? Meanwhile 24-hour fast food restaurants and low-quality chains are common.

37   Homeboy   2012 Nov 16, 1:23pm  

KILLERJANE says

Yeah but the premiums they will forcibly steal from the middle class will pay for the deficit. I will go from paying 4000 a year to 13000. I still don't use it. I never use. Their s a large fraud occurring once again. I should be able to not pay based on my own damn choice!

So let's say you got what you want - you don't have to buy health insurance because you don't "need" it. And by the same token, the government doesn't have to guarantee health insurance to you, so you can be denied insurance if you get sick. What if you got a treatable but very expensive disease that is beyond your means to pay for in cash? Would you agree to let yourself die? See, I don't believe that you would. I think that once you got sick, you would change your tune and you would want to live.

38   Homeboy   2012 Nov 16, 3:41pm  

But where else can you get a Lumberjack Grand Slam, that contains almost an entire day's recommended allowance of fat, and almost 2 days worth of cholesterol and sodium?

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