How California's fast food minimum wage increase could impact menu prices
Howard Lewis, a 63-year-old retiree who works at a Wendy’s in Sacramento, said he has been investing his extra money.CALIFORNIA, USA — Lawrence Cheng, whose family owns seven Wendy’s locations south of Los Angeles, took orders at the register on a recent day and emptied steaming hot baskets of French fries and chicken nuggets, salting them with a flourish.
Experts say it’s still too early to tell the long-term impact of the wage hike on fast food restaurants and whether there will be widespread layoffs and closures. Past wage increases have not necessarily led to job losses. When California and New York nearly doubled their minimum wage previously to $15 compared to the federal level of $7.
But many major fast food chain operators say they are cutting hours and raising prices to stay in business. Since their core business is lunch, Chacon has been reducing staffing in the mornings and evenings. He’s also cut a few part-time employees, going from 165 total to about 145. “When labor costs jump more than 25% overnight, any restaurant business with already-thin margins will be forced to reduce expenses elsewhere,” Condie said. “They don’t have a lot of options beyond increasing prices, reducing hours of operation, or scaling back the size of their workforce.”
“Today was payday and I bought $500 worth of stock,” said Lewis. He’s also helping his ex-wife fix the brakes on her car.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
California fast food workers now earn $20 per hour, franchisees responding by cutting hoursGov. Gavin Newsom said the hike was necessary to give the state's more than half a million fast food workers a living wage.
Read more »
California YIMBY group endorses Silicon Valley billionaire’s California Forever projectThe group, while noting some concerns with the plan, still supports the vision overall. The decision marks one of the first statewide groups to support the Solano County-based initiative.
Read more »
USC Center for Genetic Epidemiology - Los Angeles, California job with University of Southern CaliforniaA postdoctoral research fellow position is available in the lab of Dr. Charleston Chiang at USC. The Chiang lab utilizes cutting-edge analytic tools to address questions at the intersection of human medical and population genetics.
Read more »
Is any top-ranking California Democrat actually concerned with governing California?Why would Democratic leadership in Sacramento insert provisions into their own bills to repeal themselves if a similar ballot measure passed?
Read more »
$25M distribution center for Dunkin' franchisees rising in BurlesonWith high interest rates and high prices, many feel frustrated they can't afford the home they want.
Read more »
California fast food workers now earn $20 per hour. Franchisees are responding by cutting hours.When California’s minimum wage increase went into effect in April, fast food workers across the state went from making $16 to $20 overnight.
Read more »