Under the new health care law, parts of which have already been put in place, businesses with 50 or more workers face fines if they opt not to provide basic coverage for full-time workers.
At the time the law was passed, supporters heralded this part of the regulation believing that it would allow more people to have access to health care.
Well, kind of. Sort of. Not really.
A restaurant chain that dishes out brands such as the Olive Garden and Red Lobster is testing a work-around that could create more part-time jobs. However, those positions would likely be paid at a lower rate and offer no benefits.
In four markets, Darden Restaurants will boost the number of its part-time staff.
Check out this article from the Orlando Sentinel.
I don’t fault Darden or any other company for looking for ways to avoid a fine. The first rule of any company is to stay in business, and that means keeping costs under control.
What do you think? Would you fault a restaurant that offered more jobs, but at lower rates and offered no benefits?
Why should the employee lose on all fronts? I understand that businesses are trying to cut costs, but why don’t they reduce the hours, to make them less than full time and keep the pay the same? The businesses are already saving money by not having to supply benefits and avoiding the fine, so the employee should be able to make some money to be able to buy insurance!