Fast-food companies are bracing for a blow to employee morale when their salaried managers have to start punching the clock. Bad vibes, not higher pay, may be the biggest impact of the new Obama administration overtime rule, set to take effect Dec. 1.
In a second-quarter earnings call with analysts, CEO Dan Accordino of Carrols Restaurant Group, whose 717 Burger King locations make it the Restaurant Brands International chain’s largest franchisee, said that his company is “putting all of our salaried managers on an hourly basis.”
Carrols anticipates no effect on the bottom line: “It will not cost — I mean we’re not going to change the compensation of the managers,” Accordino said, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript. “We’re simply taking (a) 50-hour work week or 55-hour work week … and converting their current salaries into an hourly rate, assuming the overtime.”