As California’s fast food wage increase rises to $20/hr, Pizza Hut’s answer is to lay off their delivery drivers at a rapid pace, and amid the Holiday season… with 1200 jobs so far being deleted.
The late-breaking news comes as hundreds of Pizza Hut locations, and franchisees are letting go of all delivery drivers before the FAST Act takes effect in April. A reported 1200 delivery drivers have already been let go in areas like; Sacramento, Palm Springs, and Los Angeles.
A federal WARN act notice cited that:
“PacPizza, LLC, operating as Pizza Hut, has made a business decision to eliminate first-party delivery services and, as a result, the elimination of all delivery driver positions.”
Employees have spoken out to media outlets, and on social media documenting the affected drivers, and how they’re being offered a paltry $400 severance…only if they stay on board until early February.
One driver spoke anonymously to Business Insider, and said:
“The money they are giving us as severance pay is a slap on the face. It comes to $3 a month for nine-plus years of service.”
Pizza Hut will presumably pivot to rely on independent contractors delivering for gig apps like Doordash, GrubHub, and Uber Eats in lue of in-house drivers. A pretty impressive tactic to skirt around being affected by the new California fast food bill going into effect…
As a result of the fast food wage increase numerous fast food chains have been scrambling for a solution. Chipotle’s CEO issued a statement in the Fall regarding the fast causal restaurant raising prices for the fourth time inside of two years to offset the new bill, and pass the wage increase onto the customer.
Pizza Hut made a statement to Business Insider acknowledging the layoffs:
“Our franchisees independently own and operate their restaurants in accordance with local market dynamics and comply with all federal, state, and local regulations while continuing to provide quality service and food to our customers via carryout and delivery.”
