
Franchisees’ cuts to paid breaks and benefits is “reckless,” says Tim Hortons
TORONTO — Tim Hortons franchisees who planned to offset the Ontario government’s minimum wage hike by cutting paid breaks and forcing workers to cover a bigger share of their benefits faced criticism from a new source Friday: their own head office.
After days of public and government outrage stemming from policies introduced by Ron Joyce Jr. and Jeri Horton-Joyce, the children of the company’s billionaire co-founders, at their two Coburg, Ont., locations, the coffee chain’s Canadian headquarters called the franchisees’ actions “reckless” and “completely unacceptable.”
A statement from Tim Hortons released on Friday said the cuts “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” and that staff “should never be used to further an agenda or be treated as just an ‘expense.’”
The company didn’t elaborate on what it would do to help franchisees as they transition to paying workers at least $14, up from the previous minimum wage of $11.60 an hour. It will rise again to $15 in 2019.