Thoughts on Paying Extra for Employee's Health Ins.

[focusondisney]

Frankly, pay them a living wage and don't make me tip your staff. I'm all for that! Charge more per meal instead of nickel and diming me to pay your workers.

I agree. Wages are going up for servers in our state. It is hard to justify some of the tips when servers base wages are increasing right along with everyone else’s.

 

[pixiedustedme]

Ridiculous and the last time I’d patronize that restaurant.

It's an optional surcharge. They leave it separate so customers don't just think that their food costs more than the food of competing restaurants who do not provide health insurance. Almost no restaurants provide health insurance in Austin, so their providing it is very unusual. That's why they're pointing it out.

 

[pixiedustedme]

That was the socialist state of Austin, TX. Lived there for two years in the 1970's. Went back about ten years ago, hated what I saw and will never go back. The city is destroyed.

Right...Austin is about as socialist as Disney World. And about as affordable. This is a right-to-work state, not a union state, so your "socialist" label is just a fantasy. People in service jobs barely scrape by here.

"The city is destroyed"? Um, no. You might not like it, but it's a thriving city.

 

[SteveH]

Rising insurance costs are a cost of doing business in America, in every field and every industry. Build it into your pricing, like everyone else does.

IMHO there is more to it. When the ACA was passed it redefined full-time, which had been 40 hours per week to 30 hours to receive full health care. For a smaller employer you can not pass along or share much of the cost of health care. So what most did was cut hours down below 30, to say 25. That meant the person that worked 30-35 hours a week is now working 25 hours per week. For many small businesses the cost of health care has skyrocketed, and where is the savings we were promised? Yeah well I won't go there. Even worse is all the paperwork and rules the regulations that came along with it, for many it's just to much.

 

[pixiedustedme]

IMHO there is more to it. When the ACA was passed it redefined full-time, which had been 40 hours per week to 30 hours to receive full health care. For a smaller employer you can not pass along or share much of the cost of health care. So what most did was cut hours down below 30, to say 25. That meant the person that worked 30-35 hours a week is now working 25 hours per week. For many small businesses the cost of health care has skyrocketed, and where is the savings we were promised? Yeah well I won't go there. Even worse is all the paperwork and rules the regulations that came along with it, for many it's just to much.

Paperwork stinks, I agree. However, I do appreciate those little ACA rules about how insurers can no longer decline coverage to you if you've ever had health problems, and that they can no longer pull your coverage when you get sick...Before ACA, those were both common practices in the health insurance industry.

 

[SteveH]

Paperwork stinks, I agree. However, I do appreciate those little ACA rules about how insurers can no longer decline coverage to you if you've ever had health problems, and that they can no longer pull your coverage when you get sick...Before ACA, those were both common practices in the health insurance industry.

But we could have fixed those issues with out this monstrosity that is the ACA. The individual market was pretty affordable before the ACA, but not anymore. We used a program called LyfeBank which we would deposit a set amount of money and the employee could choose their own health care on the individual market For some of my employees they bought a high deductible plan and banked the rest of the cash (they had built up savings), others bought their are normal insurance plan, others wanted a richer so they paid extra and bought it. But now choice is no longer allowed. While I agree there needed to be some adjustments, what we've ended up with is worse for the average person out there, and much more complicated for the employer.

 

[pixiedustedme]

But we could have fixed those issues with out this monstrosity that is the ACA.

But we never did, interestingly enough...Perhaps higher costs are related to insurers actually having to fully pay out when payouts are needed, rather than just cutting sick people off when their health care costs get high.

I hope there is a better solution in the future, as well. However, no longer having Americans dying due to lack of insurance is a step in the right direction, even though it costs more.

 

[ronandannette]

It's an optional surcharge. They leave it separate so customers don't just think that their food costs more than the food of competing restaurants who do not provide health insurance. Almost no restaurants provide health insurance in Austin, so their providing it is very unusual. That's why they're pointing it out.

Optional?!? Fine then. Hell would freeze over before I'd pay it. Full disclosure, this is a situation I'm quite sure I'll never encounter unless I'm unexpectedly visiting Texas. I'm Canadian and where I live all workers (servers, bus-people, kitchen help, baristas, fast-food workers - whatever) make minimum wage which is currently $15.00/hour. They still expect tips at the same scale as Americans; 20% is now the "norm". I'm just so over it...so completely over it. Not to mention that public health care is funded through taxes and provided for all.

 

[Magical2017]

And regardless of the political motivations for the surcharge, as a couple of posters on this thread have already confirmed, it is likely to be taken out on the servers in the form of some customers deducting the surcharge amount from the tip they leave.

You said it better than I did. My comment about affordabily was not clear, but I do agree with this statement.

 

[MillauFr]

This is fairly common in Seattle. Not sure why they are charging only 3% though. The standard service charge in Seattle is 20-22% at fine dining restaurants. They have eliminating tipping though so it is pretty much a wash. Here is how the restaurant we often go to explains it....

A 20% service charge is included on each check. El Gaucho retains 100% of the service charge. Our professional service team receives industry leading compensation including commissions on sales, health insurance, 401K, and extensive education and training for a successful career path.

 

[pixiedustedme]

Optional?!? Fine then. Hell would freeze over before I'd pay it. Full disclosure, this is a situation I'm quite sure I'll never encounter unless I'm unexpectedly visiting Texas. I'm Canadian and where I live all workers (servers, bus-people, kitchen help, baristas, fast-food workers - whatever) make minimum wage which is currently $15.00/hour. They still expect tips at the same scale as Americans; 20% is now the "norm". I'm just so over it...so completely over it. Not to mention that public health care is funded through taxes and provided for all.

The servers' comfortable situation in Canada is the polar opposite of what it is like in Texas. No living wage for servers, no publicly funded health insurance or care, the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world, and Austin has the highest cost of living in the state, by far. So I don't get why you're so angry about the rare employer trying to help them by doing this for them.

 

[sam_gordon]

Doesn't bother me. First, I'm a "bottom line" kind of guy. As long as they indicate the surcharge will be added to the bill before you order, I'm ok. Second, I agree it shouldn't show up on the tax, so that saves me some money vs upping all the costs.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I'm not a fan of extra charges. I'd rather seem them rolled into the cost. We have a local restaurant that does a surcharge on all the bills for "local charities." I feel sure that they are actually donating the money to charities, but I don't like that they are choosing what charities I donate too and they are getting the tax benefit of making a big "charitable donation" each year that isn't coming out of their bottom line.

 

[Jennasis]

I'm fine with it.

 

[ronandannette]

The servers' comfortable situation in Canada is the polar opposite of what it is like in Texas. No living wage for servers, no publicly funded health insurance or care, the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world, and Austin has the highest cost of living in the state, by far. So I don't get why you're so angry about the rare employer trying to help them by doing this for them.

Because their employers aren’t trying to help them - they’re trying to get their customers to help them. Big difference. And they’re doing so by basically outing themselves as being either unable or unwilling to provide decently for their staff. Just raise the prices and do what’s right or fix your crazy system or something.

 

[North of Mouse]

Because their employers aren’t trying to help them - they’re trying to get their customers to help them. Big difference. And they’re doing so by basically outing themselves as being either unable or unwilling to provide decently for their staff. Just raise the prices and do what’s right or fix your crazy system or something.

So agree! I love to help others, but don't try to MAKE me help by dictating to me in the form of adding a surcharge to my dining check. I'll give wherever, whenever, and to whomever I, myself, choose. I 'will not' pay this surcharge if it ever comes to my area (or wherever I encounter it).

There are many jobs that do not pay the best - should everyone pitch in and pay their health ins? Oh, wait, we sort of do already - a subtle form of socialism - but built in, so I won't go there - but private businesses, no.

 

[Boardwalk Jedi]

The restaurant owners are trying to draw attention to the why of the price increase.

Politicizing your small business rarely works out well for the business.

Increase your prices, and keep the why secret. Keep your politics separate from your business.

Well let me agree with you. Wow!

 

[NYDisGuy]

Gotta love the political posts going on in here. Sad state of affairs when people would rather save $3 so they can walk over dead children and adults on their way to Disney World. The restaurant owner is obviously aiming this at those people. And that's the reason Government taxes in the first place, people who "choose" how to spend their money never spend it to improve their community, only themselves.

 

[skyblue17]

I'm not a fan of extra charges. I'd rather seem them rolled into the cost. We have a local restaurant that does a surcharge on all the bills for "local charities." I feel sure that they are actually donating the money to charities, but I don't like that they are choosing what charities I donate too and they are getting the tax benefit of making a big "charitable donation" each year that isn't coming out of their bottom line.

You're not donating to the charities. The restaurant, that you choose to patronize, is donating to a charity. You are paying for a meal, and the restaurant is taking what they could be making as profit from your meal and donating to a charity. If you don't like the charities they donate to, or they aren't up front about where the money they make is going, you don't have to eat there. A good example might be how some people opt to not patronize Chik-Fil-A, while others happily continue to. It's up to you to decide if their donations affect you enough to eat there or not, not them.

 

[Colleen27]

IMHO there is more to it. When the ACA was passed it redefined full-time, which had been 40 hours per week to 30 hours to receive full health care. For a smaller employer you can not pass along or share much of the cost of health care. So what most did was cut hours down below 30, to say 25. That meant the person that worked 30-35 hours a week is now working 25 hours per week. For many small businesses the cost of health care has skyrocketed, and where is the savings we were promised? Yeah well I won't go there. Even worse is all the paperwork and rules the regulations that came along with it, for many it's just to much.

Exactly. It is a political maneuver, plain and simple, designed to push their customers into sympathizing with their particular POV.

As far as the rest, I'll just say this much - if you thought the individual health insurance marketplace was affordable before the ACA, you either never shopped for a policy in it or have a very, very different definition of affordable than you'd be likely to hear from servers or other lower-wage workers.