Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Long Horn Steakhouse based in Orlando, Florida is said to be struggling and will cut health coverage for part-time employees by the end of the year. CBS News reported on Friday that Darden has worked on revising their menus and marketing but have not increased their profits as they had hoped. Darden blames the fall in revenue due to the poor economy, higher gas prices and even severe winter weather. In addition, the start of the year brought higher payroll taxes and ongoing competition with other food chains.
Orlando is a city of seasonal and part-time employees with high tourism in amusement parks, retail and restaurants. According to WESH 2 News, some employers are blaming the Affordable Care Act which will stop them from covering many of their employees by the end of the year. Surprisingly while Universal Orlando reported that ticket sales are up due to the addition of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction, they along with Darden Restaurants have already announced they will not cover part-timers, while Disney is still assessing how the new law will affect them.
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