Today, we are continuing from last week’s article, Is the $15 per Hour Wage Hike a Death Blow to Your Restaurant? For the past few weeks, we have been discussing our opinions, possible benefits, shortcomings and problems of the new $15 minimum wage law but they, in fact, are just speculation. We cannot tell the future – and frankly, no one knows what will happen. Economists, both conservative and liberal, have speculated that this could either greatly benefit or destroy California’s economy and growth factors for smaller, private and family-owned restaurants. Instead of making more speculations, we want to give you facts and real consequences of a $15 minimum wage. Below are excerpts from an article written by Grant Chen, a restaurant owner inContinue Reading …
California’s restaurants are going to be ground zero for the impact of the new minimum wage law. The retail and food industries alone, employ nearly a third of all workers who will get a raise from the new law. Of the 5.6 million workers who are expected to earn more under the law, about 1.7 million of them are employed in retail or food services. Restaurants are and have been a major driver of job growth and because they spend a relatively large share of their operating expenses on labor, restaurants will feel the effect of rising pay the most. When the new minimum wage law was first proposed, The National Restaurant Association came out and opposed the wage hike, stating that “Profit marginsContinue Reading …