More Obamacare casualties

Darden Restaurants operates Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse. It’s based in Central Florida, so, when it implements significant changes it’s news here.  Although Darden calls this new policy a test, somehow I think it is the wave of the future.

In an experiment apparently aimed at keeping down the cost of health-care reform, Orlando-based Darden Restaurants has stopped offering full-time schedules to many hourly workers in at least a few Olive Gardens, Red Lobsters and LongHorn Steakhouses.

Why, you ask?

The answer is simple. 

Under Obamacare a company the size of Darden would have to provide “government approved” health insurance to its employees, or pay the government a hefty penalty (or is it a tax) for all employees who are not covered.  However, Obamacare does not tax Darden for part time employees who are not covered by a Darden health insurance plan.

And, Darden may not be alone.

Analysts say many other companies, including the White Castle hamburger chain, are considering employing fewer full-timers because of key features of the Affordable Care Act scheduled to go into effect in 2014

It used to be that someone could get a full time job at a restaurant, many of which offered what were known as “mini-med” health insurance policies to their employees.  Not anymore.  Now, thanks to Obamacare all they can get is a part time job with no health insurance as the mini-med policies are not “government approved”.

Well done, Mr. President, well done.

 

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SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

12 Comments

  1. Tim-in-Alabama on October 11, 2012 at 6:56 pm

    Companies are supposed to lose money to implement bad government policy. Selfish companies like this should be shut down forever …. er, huh, then something must be done by government for their former employees …. then something must be duh ….



  2. Gary J on October 11, 2012 at 7:10 pm

    Please free us of the government regulations. Not just Obamacare.



  3. Dimsdale on October 11, 2012 at 10:47 pm

    Of course, the liberals will say that these are “anecdotal” stories or could never happen here, blah, blah, blah.
    ?
    Check out “Why France has so many 49 employee companies”? http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-03/why-france-has-so-many-49-employee-companies



  4. ricbee on October 11, 2012 at 11:18 pm

    HAH! Darden is bringing up the rear,this tread will soon be the norm.



  5. JBS on October 12, 2012 at 9:31 am

    The Lib/Dems insist that raising taxes and imposing rigid regulations on companies benefits workers. Sadly, that is complete BS. Anyone who believes that greater government intrusion benefits all is delusional.
    In the case of the French, bastion of triumphant Socialism and bellwether of Europe, the rich are abandoning the Republic in droves ahead of Francois Hollande’s promised 75% tax on the rich.? Great. The tax is NOT expected to produce ANY significant raise in revenues!? All over the world, examples abound of the consequences of raising taxes and imposing strict regulations. The result, invariable is detrimental to the private sector. And, government DOES NOT benefit in any way.
    Is all of this government intrusion into the affairs of men posturing or further elevation of the state over the individual?
    The question becomes, at what point does this goal of incremental statism snuff out private initiative and enterprise to the detriment of all?
    (By the way, does anyone else think Biden was cranked on too much Red Bull or some other stimulant?)



  6. RoBrDona on October 12, 2012 at 2:33 pm

    Ah yes, and they have to resort to leaving California out of the Jobs Report.



  7. PatRiot on October 14, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    So because of Obamacare, a worker friendly company must decide to:
    1.? Keep their customers prices lower, keep the company running and?offer a living wage but?shift the health care costs to their employees.
    2.? Pricing themselves out of the market,?closing their doors?and ahiving all of their employees on the unemployment line.??
    Thank you Mr. Obama!? NOT.? The employees can pay for government health care, or pay the debtors prison tax? OR door number 2 be?at the mercy of their government for health care, housing, food stamps, etc. provided by the dwindling number of taxpayers.?
    All false choices and a?downward spiral that?is slavery at best and despotism at worst. ?



  8. kateinmaine on October 14, 2012 at 7:45 pm

    more of those pesky ‘unintended’ consequences.? which will be most effective in securing the necessary statist outcome–spin, marginalization, disenfranchisement or regulation?? i suspect that at some point they will have to say that service positions are not jobs, much like food and energy are not economic components in determining real inflation. . .? they’ll have to figure out how to cover for that in the jobs report–? oh, wait–they’ve already done it!? huh–they really are the ‘smartest’ people in the room. . .



  9. sammy22 on October 14, 2012 at 11:27 pm

    Darden claims to be one of? “Fortune 100 best places to work for”. Given that it is a $8B company that pays a “tip credit wage” of $2.13 an hour, I wonder how it got such a high rating from Fortune.



  10. rickyrock on October 15, 2012 at 12:35 pm

    I’m tired ..so tired of all the cry baby businesses ,…….complaining about everything….they make billions and they squawk…..just like the letter David Siegel and the Koch brothers wrote to their employees(by the way this was a chain letter that was circulated before the 2008 election as well) ..we will lay people off if you vote for Obama..go ahead ..I put it to all of you reading this blog ..I think these companies ,just like wall street are using scare tactics, playing chicken ..well I would call their bluff
    ..waiters waitresses don’t make crap any way.Let them use part timers ….or take their jobs and shove em.



    • kateinmaine on October 15, 2012 at 5:15 pm

      what is there to fear?? there will be no money, banks or investment, let alone business, when the gov’t controls all. ? also no jobs–just gov’t tribute and patronage, which will be doled out to a favored few (those willing to sell themselves to help the powerful retain their standing).? a modern spin on feudalism.? sweet!? best part of this scenario is that all of the ‘smart’ people in gov’t truly believe that they will be the ones in charge.? they need to reconsider the ‘unintended consequences’ of having the creative, driven, entrepreneurial types out there with time on their hands, once their businesses are shuttered.? those individuals will still have the means and the talent that the gov’t types never did.? ayuh–good stuff!? for the rest, it will be back to the land (see china for instruction on this).? that’s a bluff for the ages–go ahead–call it.



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