After a year-long battle with labor advocates, this popular fast-food chain’ employees are getting a pay raise!
While this is great news for those employed by the fast-food chain, it comes with a downside for customers…
In a video message distributed last month, Waffle House CEO Joe Rogers III announced that employees’ base pay would increase by at least $3 per hour starting in June, eventually rising to $5.25 over the next two years.
Rogers emphasized that the base pay does not include tips and that in some areas, the base pay would be higher due to minimum wage laws.
Additionally, the company will introduce tenure bonuses and premiums for 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 these pay raises across its 2,100 locations, the answer lies with the customers.
Diners will face higher menu prices to offset the increased wages.
“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 informed his employees that customers “are going to expect more when they pay more.”
Does this news change your opinion about Waffle House? Let us know in the comments!
