Paying Employees to Stay, Not to Go... [View all]

[one_voice]

CONCORD, N.H. — Ben Nawn, a sophomore at the University of New Hampshire, says his friends who work at McDonald’s are envious of what he earns working for the Boloco burrito restaurant here.

While they make $7.25 an hour, the federal minimum wage, Mr. Nawn receives $9 an hour, which Boloco sets as the floor at its chain of 22 restaurants, most of them in New England.

“That’s pretty high,” said Mr. Nawn, who hopes to work in sports broadcasting someday. “$9 is a good base, and the benefits are great.”

Mr. Nawn works at one of the handful of restaurant chains that deliberately pay well above the federal minimum wage. In-N-Out Burger, the chain based in California, pays all its employees at least $10.50 an hour, while Shake Shack, the trendy, lines-out-the-door burger emporium, has minimum pay of $9.50. Moo Cluck Moo, a fledgling company with two hamburger joints in Michigan, starts everyone at $15.

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“Our people work really hard, and $15 impacts their lives in a very positive way,” Mr. Moorhouse said. “The whole notion that it’s all kids starting out and they don’t deserve to be paid much, that’s all specious. We’re paying people $15 an hour so they have a living wage, so they really care about you when you come in the store.”

A major benefit of paying $15, he said, is “we don’t have any turnover. We don’t have to train people constantly.” His restaurants serve upscale hamburgers, chicken sandwiches and salads, and a full meal generally costs around $1.25 more than at McDonald’s.

Rachel Troutman, 34, said she was thrilled to be earning $15 an hour, $600 a week, with Moo Cluck Moo. She used to earn $10 an hour as a top manager at a sit-down family restaurant.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/05/business/economy/boloco-and-shake-shack-offer-above-average-pay.html?_r=0