Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Regal Health Care

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Posted by Michael Marini (Member # 3490) on 04-21-2013, 01:11 PM:

Regal Cinema sees backlash over Obamacare cuts

Moviegoers are vowing to boycott the country's biggest theater chain after it slashes employees' hours to avoid the new law.

By Aimee Picchi Thu 10:58 AM

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Regal Entertainment Group (RGC) is finding itself at the center of a drama worthy of a big-screen blockbuster.

The country's biggest movie theater chain has stirred a hornets' nest of controversy after announcing in a company memo that it's cutting hours for thousands of nonsalaried employees to avoid providing health care insurance under Obamacare, according to Fox News.

But that isn't going over well with some customers, who point to Regal's hefty $334 million in 2012 profits and its chief executive's massive 31% pay hike. The company's shares rose 17% last year.

"SHAME on you for cutting employees' hours to avoid giving them healthcare while your CEO made $4.4 million and other executives were given large bonuses. You lose my business," one person wrote on Regal's Facebook page.

Chief executive Amy Miles earned $4.45 million in 2012, up from $3.4 million in the previous year, according to a regulatory filing.

Many people writing on Regal's Facebook page vowed to stop attending films at its theaters, which operate under the Regal, Edwards and United Artists brands. Another wrote, "It is so sad to see companies work so hard to keep from treating their employees fairly. The greedy people at the top forget who makes them rich. Shame on you. I for one will find other movie houses to attend shows from now on."

Obamacare has become a lightning rod among American business owners, with some fast-food franchisees saying they'll have to delay expansion plans or charge more for their food, for example. Dunkin' Brands (DNKN +1.15%) is lobbying the government to change its definition of "full time" to employees working at least 40 hours a week instead of the law's current 30 hours a week.

But Regal Cinemas might be at the receiving end of one of the worst consumer backlashes yet. It's one of only a handful of companies to announce definitively how it plans to cope with the Affordable Care Act, which goes into effect next year. Other companies planning cutbacks because of Obamacare include Applebee's and Denny's (DENN +0.72%), which both suffered from poor brand perception afterward, according to a December report from Today.com.

Regal is also facing pushback from employees, according to Fox News. After getting their hours cut by 25% or more, some full-time managers have resigned, the story notes.

According to a memo obtained by Fox News, Regal advised managers to tell affected employees that "to comply with the Affordable Care Act, Regal had to increase our health care budget to cover those newly deemed eligible based on the law's definition of a full-time employee. To manage this budget, all other employees will be scheduled in accord with business needs and in a manner that will not negatively impact our health care budget."

Follow Aimee Picchi on Twitter at @aimeepicchi.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 04-22-2013, 02:11 PM:

Don't think Amy Miles was there when I worked for them, but this is exactly why people hate companies like this- give the people at the top more money than they need, while the people at the bottom don't get enough to just get by. Couldn't Regal just charge advertisers more for their screen ads to make up whatever the difference is? [Wink]

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 04-22-2013, 03:22 PM:

There is already a thread for this here.