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Tim Hortons welcoming all-day breakfast across Canada

Tim Hortons has announced they are officially introducing all-day breakfast across participating locations in Canada.

The Canadian staple announced that they will be welcoming all-day breakfast to participating locations due to a high demand from the people. Tim Hortons already introduced the concept to approximately a dozen locations across Canada earlier this summer and due to high demand, the conglomerate will be expanding the breakfast menu to be an all-day affair.

In May, Tim Hortons’ president Alex Macedo told The Canadian Press that their all-day breakfast plan was going really well and was met with further demand. “The demand is loud and clear. Any time we bring up the idea of breakfast at any time, the response is very favourable and very strong.”

Tim Hortons is behind other companies who have already introduced all-day breakfast for well over a year. For example, A&W and McDonald’s introduced all-day breakfast in February 2017, which skyrocketed their sales.

The coffee shop also needs to clean up the mess from past discrepancies on their end. Tim Hortons fell to fourth place on the list of Canada’s favourite coffees, falling behind McDonald’s, Second Cup, and Starbucks. A study released in April of this year marked further downfall for the company as they slipped to 50th place. At the time, Rick Murray, managing partner and chief digital strategist, at National Public Relations wrote “Tim Hortons, a perennial top five brand that we’ve previously believed impervious to issue, has fallen mightily in the court of public opinion. The Company dropped 25 points from last year, and fell from #4 to #50 in the rankings – largely through issues of the Company’s own making.”

Tim Hortons was also at the receiving end of boycotts and protests after store owners cut paid breaks from workers and benefits in order to cut costs amid Canada’s minimum wage hike.

Though, I wonder how this will go. I work in the heart of downtown Toronto and I was standing in line in Tim Hortons last week when someone in front of me asked the workers if all-day breakfast was coming. As I reached the front I asked the same question. The workers laughed and told me that it just wasn’t feasible since, according to them, the eggs only have a lifespan of three hours on them. One of the workers told me that “unless the company redoes how they’re going to do breakfast, I don’t think it’s possible.”

So, we’ll see how it goes.

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Tim Hortons tries to sway voters against Kathleen Wynne

The battle between Tim Hortons and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne continues, with a store in Whitby blaming the politician for the changes certain owners have made to benefits and paid breaks.

In a letter sent to employees in November, owners Susan and Jason Holman, who own a number of stores within Whitby and Ajax, place all blame regarding changes to benefits and pay on the province. They urge employees to contact the Premier directly to complain.

“I encourage you to let [Wynne] know how your workplace will change as a result of her new law and that you will not vote Liberal in the coming Ontario election in June 2018,” the letter reads. Included was the phone number and email for the Premier’s office.

Pettiness aside, the fact that store owners, or rather employers, are trying to influence the political association of the people who depend on them for their pay check is despicable. To those who may not know better, this could be seen as an instruction on how to vote in the next election. Even more than that, it makes a correlation between an employees benefits and paid sick leave, with their political decision come June 6th.

To be absolutely clear: no employer has the right to sway the votes of their employees. It’s absolutely deplorable.

Women’s Post has previously written about how Tim Horton’s is coming across as a large greedy corporation who is slashing health benefits and reducing paid breaks in order to maintain their bottom line. And instead of stepping up and helping owners by raising prices by 10 cents, the Tim Horton’s head office is simply playing the blame game, putting the onus on government and private store owners to figure it all out.

The letter mentioned above was sent out in November, two months prior to the minimum wage increase. This just proves the store owners had no intention of trying to make this raise work.

The Premier responded in twitter by saying:

 

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Tim Hortons
Business

No, I will not forgive greedy Tim Hortons

On Friday, Tim Hortons released a press statement to counteract the complaints regarding the slashing of benefits and paid breaks for employees at an Ontario store owned by the children of the franchise’s founders.

The statement reads: “Let us be perfectly clear. These recent actions by a few Restaurant Owners, and the unauthorized statements made to the media by a “rogue group” claiming to speak on behalf of Tim Hortons®, do not reflect the values of our brand, the views of our company or the views of the overwhelming majority of our dedicated and hardworking Restaurant Owners. While our Restaurant Owners, like all small business owners, have found this sudden transition challenging, we are committed to helping them work through these changes. However, Tim Hortons® Team Members should never be used to further an agenda or be treated as just an ‘expense.’ This is completely unacceptable.”

Essentially, the actions of a few spoiled children have resulted in a public relations nightmare and head office decided they needed to respond — without actually offering any assistance, solutions, or guarantees.

Last week, I wrote an article about how the Tim Hortons franchise was being greedy. I said a company that made roughly $3 billion (US) in revenue last year shouldn’t be so quick to devalue their employees. I also said I would not be purchasing any more product from the franchise.

Cue the comments from people defending Tim Hortons, many of whom I would bet make more than minimum wage.

A common argument expressed on social media was that I shouldn’t boycott all Tim Hortons based on the response of one or two store owners. While it is true that not all stores have decided to react to the minimum wage increase in this manner, the franchise itself is partially to blame. Most people have expressed a willingness to pay an extra 10 cents for a cup of coffee or a donut to make up the costs lost to the owners. People are actually asking Tim Hortons to raise prices so that their employees can afford their rent.

These people are the heroes Ontario needs.

Tim Hortons, on the other hand, has not raised prices. They have not promised to absorb the cost of the minimum wage increase. Instead, they chastised store owners for having to make difficult (and wrong) decisions. They claim no responsibility, merely saying they were “saddened” to hear of the actions taken by a “reckless few.”

Cry me a river.

It’s not like businesses didn’t see this coming. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne made the announcement back in May 2017, saying the minimum wage will increase to $14 on Jan. 1, 2018. That was seven months ago. Did no one do the math? Did no one think: “maybe I should look at the books to figure out how I’m going to make this work?”

And it’s also not just Tim Hortons. Other big chains are dipping into their employees tips and laying off staff,. Sunset Grill is increasing their servers’ tip out by one per cent. This is part of a process called tip pooling, in which servers pay a portion of their day’s tips to support staff like bussers, cooks, and dishwashers. This tip out increase comes in addition to menu price increases at Sunset Grill. The Clocktower, a restaurant in Ottawa, is now removing dishwashers from the tip out, saying they make enough now that minimum wage has increased. They also increased their tip out by one per cent. Smaller businesses have cut store hours and even changed to commission-based wages rather than increase their hourly rate.

Unfortunately, this is how it will be for a while. Corporate head office will blame store owners. Store owners will blame the government. The government will call the store owners “bullies”, and then corporate head office will step in with a nicely worded press release. But, at the end of the day, who is actually left hurting? The employees caught between the madness.

It’s a few dollars per shift. If you can’t figure out the math and get creative, you don’t deserve to own a business.

So, to conclude — thank you for all the comments and remarks, but I’m going to keep boycotting greedy Tim Hortons. And if you had respect for the minimum wage workers in this province, you would do so too.

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Greedy Tim Hortons just lost my business

My heart bleeds for you Tim Hortons. Last year, you only earned $3 billion (US) in revenue, so with this minimum wage increase, I’m wondering how you will keep afloat? Those extra two dollars you now have to pay your hard working employees is bound to create havoc. Owners of the stores will need to work even harder to make ends meet.

Hopefully, you detected the sarcasm.

It was all over the news Thursday. A Tim Hortons, owned by the children of the business’ founder, has told employees they will no longer receive benefits or get paid for their breaks. The reason?  It’s that darn minimum wage increase. Without “assistance” from head office or the government, Tim Hortons apparently cannot afford to continue offering 15 minute paid breaks or health and dental.

Here are some of the changes Tim Hortons — at least this particular store — is making to accommodate the new labour laws:

  • Breaks will no longer be paid. This means that someone working an eight hour shift will be paid for seven and a half hours instead of the full eight.
  • No more bonuses for covering shifts when called on days off.
  • No “day of pay” when you have a death in the family and cannot work
  • Dental and Health benefits will no longer be covered. Those who have worked at Tim Hortons for five years or more will have to cover 50 per cent of the cost. Those working between six months and five years will have to cover 75 per cent of the cost.

Essentially, for some employees, having to pay 50 per cent of the cost of their benefits and with the loss of paid breaks, an employees biweekly paycheck could be even less than it was prior to the minimum wage increase.

But, the owners? Oh, they won’t be affected now. The revenue will continue to stream in. Problem solved, right?

This is what I hate about the world we live in. It’s run by greed. While small, mom and pop businesses have a right to be a little concerned, this province-wide freak out by large franchise businesses is disgusting. It’s proving that employers really don’t care about the people who work for them. It’s all about the bottom line, and if that means your cashier can’t afford to actually eat at your restaurant, then that’s too bad.

As a former Tim Horton’s employee, I know first hand how hard these people work. It is a fast-paced environment, with high expectations of quality and service. Most employees are immigrants or young people trying to support themselves and their families. They come in before the sun rises and sometimes leave after the sun sets. They cater to the whim of all customers, no matter how rude or inappropriate they may act. They clean bathrooms, work the food line, stand at cashier, and make runs to the garbage dump wearing t-shirts in -30 degree weather. They do all of this, every shift, regardless of whether they are feeling well or just spent the last 12 hours in classes or writing exams.

Can you imagine doing that job?

The raising of the minimum wage is causing unnecessary fear among business owners. They think they need to immediately cut staff and raise prices. A December report by the Bank of Canada didn’t help with its statistic that 60,000 jobs could be lost by 2019. But, can you judge the financial repercussions of these labour laws after only one week, based on predictions and rumours? As with most big changes, businesses need to give the process time to work. The economy will bounce back after a few months of uncertainty, and if it doesn’t, owners can deal with it at that time. Acting pre-emptively to ensure larger revenue does nothing but make you look foolish and heartless.

In fact, before making any changes to your business, I challenge every business owner, manager, or executive to try living off $14 an hour while paying into benefits. Do this for a year. Only then can you complain about the minimum wage’s affect on the economy.

As for Tim Horton’s, it’s a damn shame. As a fervent Timbit lover, I’m incredibly disappointed. The franchise is saying that each store owner has a right to enact their own rules, but this store is owned by the family founders. What kind of example are they setting for everyone else? This precedent is incredibly dangerous for those working for so little money to begin with.

Honestly, I would rather buy a more expensive coffee at a local business and reduce my caffeine intake than spend money at a restaurant that treats its employees with such disdain.

Sorry Tim Hortons, but you just lost me as a customer.

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Things Women’s Post loves about Canada

The staff at Women’s Post are patriots! We love our nation, full of its weird currency, giant rubber ducks, and, or course, our insanely sweet double doubles.

While this country, at a young age of 150, still has a lot of growing and learning to do, it remains one

Here are some of the things Women’s Post loves about Canada:

Gender equal cabinet: With that mic-dropping reason being “because it’s 2016”, Canada’s Prime Minister announced that he would be creating a cabinet comprising of equal parts men and women. This was a first in Canada and led to a number of provinces following suit. Way to go Canada!

Tim Hortons: As writers, we practically live on coffee. While we may not all be double-double fans in this office, we are a fan of this Canadian brand and we shall eat our dutchie donuts with pride!

Pride month: There is nothing Canadians like better than to celebrate love and acceptance — and what better way to do that than to celebrate Pride for a whole month! Not only that, but almost all of our politicians (at least on the left), actually walk in the parade.

Inclusion of transgendered people in law: As of June, the Canadian Human Rights Act, as well as the Criminal Code, will be amended to include the words “gender identity and gender expression on a list of prohibited grounds of discrimination. This new law, Bill c-16, also protects transgender Canadians from hate propaganda and makes them an identifiable group under law!

Alcohol: Whether it’s craft beer or some wine from a local vineyard, Canadians love to drink! We also love to drink our own alcohol — no fancy European stuff for us! We love our Canadian whiskey and home grown brews. This business is booming, which means in every liquor store there are dozens of choices to try out. Which will you pick?

Landscapes: The beautiful mountains, lakes, and forests of Canada are truly unique. These majestic landscapes provide character and natural beauty to communities across the country. Nothing is more peaceful than a hike through one of these Canadian treasures — don’t forget to bring your plaid shirt and coffee thermos.

Anne of Green Gables: Women’s Post is talking about our beloved Anne (with an ‘e’), from literary character to it’s newest CBC reprisal. It’s one of Canada’s biggest cultural claim to fame, with musicals, plays, and television playoffs being broadcast. Did you know the gables aren’t actually green? Turns out, Canadians don’t really care — we just love this incredibly inspiring, creative, and scrappy female heroine.

Justin Trudeau’s socks: We all know this is a PR stunt, but here at Women’s Post, we don’t really care. There is something satisfying about a politician geeking out with brightly-coloured themed footwear. The most recent spotting of these funky socks was during pride, when Trudeau sported not just rainbow socks, but they also sported the greeting “Eid Mubarak” to mark the end of Ramadan. Because, why not?

Beavertails: This weird invention of friend dough and cinnamon sugar (in its purest form) is unique to Canada — more because of the name than anything else. Sure, skating on the canal in Ottawa is quite the Canadian thing to do, but doing so while holding/balancing beavertail in one hand is another all together.

These are just a few of Women’s Post’s loves about this wonderful country. What do you love about Canada? Let us know in the comments below!

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