Waffle House employees will receive a salary boost following a year-long struggle with labor advocates!
While this is good news for the fast food chain’s employees, it is poor news for its customers.
Waffle House CEO Joe Rogers III informed employees in a video message last month that their base compensation would raise by at least $3 per hour in June, rising to $5.25 over the next two years.
Rogers made it clear to staff members that base pay did not include gratuities, and that in some places, base pay would be greater due to minimum wage legislation.
The corporation will also include tenure bonuses and premiums for working late shifts.
“This is a big deal, a massive additional investment,” the CEO said in the video. “And I don’t see many others in our industry doing things like this.”
As for how Waffle House will afford to pay its employees at its 2,100 locations… it’s leaving that up to the customers.
Diners will be forced to pay a higher price to offset employees’ raises.
“Our menu prices in a rural town are relative to competitors’ menu prices in that rural town,” Rogers said. “So we may not have as much room to increase prices as we have in a large city.”
Rogers also alerted his employees that customers “are going to expect more when they pay more.”
