Happy Saturday!
The top story in franchising this week continues to be the minimum wage battle I discussed in previous posts, but now it looks like the battle is being fought on three fronts; Chicago is now looking to enact a law similar to the one passed by the Seattle City Council, and the federal government has made a similar a minimum wage increase for companies that do business with the federal government.
The key stories on franchising’s battle against minimum wage increases:
- As promised, the International Franchise Association (“IFA”) filed a lawsuit in Seattle to challenge its minimum wage measure.
- The IFA is opposing a similar minimum wage measure in Chicago and has written a letter voicing its concerns. The measure being considered by Chicago, like the one passed by the Seattle City Council, unfairly lumps together franchisees and their franchisors, so that a small franchisee would be forced to pay the same minimum wage to its employees that its large franchise company has to pay to the franchisor’s own employees.
- The IFA has opposed President Obama’s Executive Order 13658, which increased the minimum wage for all employers who do business with the federal government to $10.10 an hour. The IFA says this law will unfairly impact franchisees who do business on military bases.
This week’s other interesting stories about franchising:
- Consumers are happier with small franchise systems, survey says.
- The culture secrets under Ray Kroc’s McDonalds. How many of these are you implementing in your franchise system?
Finally, if you haven't already done so, please read my recent posts in a new series about common mistakes made by franchisors in their Franchise Disclosure Documents.
Forward Franchising 