Eight restaurants in the Gator’s Dockside chain have begun charging a 1 percent “ACA” surcharge in an effort to help fund their employees’ health insurance, CNN Money reports.
Signs welcoming patrons at the door read “The costs associated with ACA compliance could ultimately close our doors. Instead of raising prices on our products to generate the additional revenue needed to cover the costs of ACA compliance, certain Gator’s Dockside locations have implemented a 1 percent surcharge on all food and beverage purchases only.”
According to Sandra Clark, the director of operations for Gator’s Dockside, the fee will allow the restaurants to continue to employ many workers full-time. Such employees would have otherwise been forced to part time due to the Obamacare employer mandate, which requires employers to provide health insurance to all those working 30 hours a week or more.
Clark estimates that they will bring in about $160,000 from the surcharge, which will partially offset the $500,000 the company estimates it will incur insuring all of its full-time workers.