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Labor costs over 50%

pizzapirate said:
It really doesn’t matter what the reason is. California will grant benefits no matter what. An employee can quit on their own and just claim to they haven’t found another job. Had an employee recently granted benefits when he got in a fight with his girlfriend, quit without notice and moved back in with his parents. The rep cited extreme financial hardship since he couldn’t afford a place on his own. It’s a sanctuary state for people not to work if they so choose.
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I can’t bear to read that crap… seriously.
 
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pizzapirate said:
It really doesn’t matter what the reason is. California will grant benefits no matter what. An employee can quit on their own and just claim to they haven’t found another job. Had an employee recently granted benefits when he got in a fight with his girlfriend, quit without notice and moved back in with his parents. The rep cited extreme financial hardship since he couldn’t afford a place on his own. It’s a sanctuary state for people not to work if they so choose.
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I have not protested an unemployment claim in 25 years. Its just a big waste of time. I have a couple going right now. One guy just wants to work part time so he collects unemployment for the rest of the hours. The other guy we had to pull off delivery because he got a major violation on his driving record. We offered him full time inside with a possibility of moving into management. He said he would rather just collect unemployment.
 
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pizzapiratespp said:
I have not protested an unemployment claim in 25 years. Its just a big waste of time.
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We get a couple a year so maybe 35 over 19 years. I have protested all but two of them. I have prevailed in my protest almost every time. Discounting a couple of times where I missed the deadline I have only ever lost one protest.
 
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We also do a few unemployment claims each year for people who have never worked at our stores. In California you just pick a company, file an unemployment claim and collect the money.
 
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bodegahwy said:
We get a couple a year so maybe 35 over 19 years. I have protested all but two of them. I have prevailed in my protest almost every time. Discounting a couple of times where I missed the deadline I have only ever lost one protest.
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Quite a record!
 
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pizzapiratespp said:
We also do a few unemployment claims each year for people who have never worked at our stores. In California you just pick a company, file an unemployment claim and collect the money.
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Now that’s just insane! Who raises these people, I wonder?
 
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Quite a record!
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haha… nearly half are from one guy. He works for us in the Winter then quits in April. He has another seasonal job for the Winter that he gets laid off from. Then he takes about two months off and collects unemployment before his Summer job starts.

We respond to the claim by stating that he quit voluntarily and that work is available. He still collects based on his other employment but our “account” is not charged. We hire him back every season because he is a good employee.

A bunch of the others are voluntary quit. Generally no-show etc. Often the claim is some months later and we are not the most recent employer. The few fired for cause have never claimed. (We document the issues and the employees have generally signed the warnings and notices)
 
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pizzapiratespp said:
I have not protested an unemployment claim in 25 years. Its just a big waste of time. I have a couple going right now. One guy just wants to work part time so he collects unemployment for the rest of the hours. The other guy we had to pull off delivery because he got a major violation on his driving record. We offered him full time inside with a possibility of moving into management. He said he would rather just collect unemployment.
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My payroll company actually monitors and files everything for me. It’s just a short email back and I’m done.

The agencies here in CA know most don’t protest and advise the people coming in of it. Case in point: I have a guy working for me that just recently filed unemployment. When I asked him what was going on, he said he actually just went down and applied for food stamps. While he was there, the agent encouraged him to apply for all sorts of things. He told her unemployment benefits didn’t apply to him because he was still working. She said, “Just apply, you never know”. In other words, if no one objects, he’ll get it. Gotta love it.
 
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pizzapiratespp said:
The is also a member here who’s handle is pizzapirate. He runs buccaneer Pizza about an hour away from us.

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Thank you for clarifying that. I figured it was just different franchisees of the same company but I’ve seen a couple conflicting posts that had me wondering.
 
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paul7979 said:
Thank you for clarifying that. I figured it was just different franchisees of the same company but I’ve seen a couple conflicting posts that had me wondering.
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Every now then I’ll search old post a come across something he posted. For a second I think its me.[emoji3]

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pizzapirate said:
My payroll company actually monitors and files everything for me. It’s just a short email back and I’m done.

The agencies here in CA know most don’t protest and advise the people coming in of it. Case in point: I have a guy working for me that just recently filed unemployment. When I asked him what was going on, he said he actually just went down and applied for food stamps. While he was there, the agent encouraged him to apply for all sorts of things. He told her unemployment benefits didn’t apply to him because he was still working. She said, “Just apply, you never know”. In other words, if no one objects, he’ll get it. Gotta love it.
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Sad, but true in California. It’s employers vs the world in CA and it’s ridiculous. Every single unemployment claim I’ve protested came back in the employee’s favor and every single one of the the plaintiffs just stopped showing up (job abandonment) yet they still won. I’ve given up on the process as of late. It’s hopeless. In Illinois, I’d protest and win the large majority of them however.
 
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Joe said:
Sad, but true in California. It’s employers vs the world in CA and it’s ridiculous. Every single unemployment claim I’ve protested came back in the employee’s favor and every single one of the the plaintiffs just stopped showing up (job abandonment) yet they still won. I’ve given up on the process as of late. It’s hopeless. In Illinois, I’d protest and win the large majority of them however.
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I used to get all bent out of shape about this till around 2010. I know a guy who lost his job in the recession and went on unemployment. He told me that the first thing he would when his check came in the mail was go down and pick up pizzas from us. So I figured at least the money is coming back to us. He still has the same routine 8 years later.
 
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Yes, that is definitely high labor costs! The slower days tend to be a little high, as was posted, but should easily be made up on busier days. Unless your pizza is priced dirt cheap, then I’m doubtful they are working hard if at all :). California does have a 3 hour law, but it’s irrelevant when agreed to beforehand by the employee. I am only open in the Pm, but do dough prep in the AM. I had this one guy that would come from 1130-130 in the AM to help me with dough, then come back at open. He use to recite all these labor laws to me, haha. So, I looked into it, and from what I gathered is, if someone is scheduled for 4 hours, and you send them home after an hour, they are entitled to at least 3 hours. But if they agreed beforehand, you can schedule them for as little as you want. I ended up buying a dough rounder, so I don’t need anyone in the AM, problem solved 😉
 
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Bluebird said:
Yes, that is definitely high labor costs! The slower days tend to be a little high, as was posted, but should easily be made up on busier days. Unless your pizza is priced dirt cheap, then I’m doubtful they are working hard if at all :). California does have a 3 hour law, but it’s irrelevant when agreed to beforehand by the employee. I am only open in the Pm, but do dough prep in the AM. I had this one guy that would come from 1130-130 in the AM to help me with dough, then come back at open. He use to recite all these labor laws to me, haha. So, I looked into it, and from what I gathered is, if someone is scheduled for 4 hours, and you send them home after an hour, they are entitled to at least 3 hours. But if they agreed beforehand, you can schedule them for as little as you want. I ended up buying a dough rounder, so I don’t need anyone in the AM, problem solved 😉
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No, my pizza is not dirt cheap:) Thanks to this forum I think I’m getting to the bottom of what’s going on. I’ve already dramatically altered scheduling and now recruited a few part-time drivers to be on call for the busiest times. Thank you for your support!
 
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sparrowspizza said:
Wow Bluebird 385 yelp reviews at 4.5. And your only open 4 hours 5 days a week. thats awesome.
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Man… not sure if I am turned on or jealous. Probably both.
This is a new shop for me and I planned on less hours, but that guy is my hero.
I do Mon-Sat 11-8
I will say, though, back in '99 I sold a Domino’s store and the sale was caught up, delayed, etc and I reduced my hours from 4-10pm and did no advertising, nothing… made more $ in those 3-4 months than the rest of the year.
Something to be said for eliminating all the waste, dead time etc… IF you can pull it off an/or get away with it.
 
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When labor costs were low enough, it made sense to be open longer hours. During the down time you could still eat, take a break and get all the prep done.

Now depending on where you are, Labor has become the highest cost item. It no longer makes sense to stay open long hours. Here, i have reduced my hours almost in half and yet my labor dollars are 50% higher then it was 5 years ago.
 
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