A Day in the Life of a California Fast-Food Manager Who Makes Up to $174,000

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the high salaries and responsibilities of general managers at the fast-food chain Raising Cane's in California, where managers can earn up to $174,000 annually. It highlights the impact of California's minimum wage increase for fast-food workers and the corresponding requirement for chains to boost pay for managers.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Monique Pizano's Role and Earnings

1. What is Monique Pizano's role and how much does she earn?

• Monique Pizano is a 27-year-old general manager at Raising Cane's in Ontario, California.
• Her pay can reach $174,000 annually, including bonuses based on her location's sales and profit.

2. How has her job and earnings impacted her life?

• Her six-figure earnings have helped her save for a house down payment, take a honeymoon to Japan, and support her mom.
• She describes it as "life-changing for my family."

[02] California's Minimum Wage Increase and Impact on Managers

1. What did California's minimum wage increase for fast-food workers entail?

• California raised the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 an hour in April, with the goal of helping hundreds of thousands of people have a better quality of life in the high-cost state.
• The increase also required chains to boost pay for managers, mandating that salaried managers be paid at least $83,200 to comply with California rules, up from $66,560.

2. How have chains responded to the higher labor costs?

• Many chains have raised prices to help pay for the higher labor costs.
• There has been a more pronounced slowdown in U.S. restaurant visits in California, according to analyst reports.
• Some franchisees have debated converting some salaried jobs to hourly ones.

[03] Raising Cane's Approach to Manager Compensation

1. How does Raising Cane's compensate its managers?

• Raising Cane's views its managers as critical partners and pays them to be perfectionists.
• The company raised Pizano's annual base salary to $85,000 from $79,000 in March, while also raising staff wages at the same time.
• Raising Cane's offers a monthly bonus of $5,000 to $7,500 for managers who meet certain financial targets.

2. How has the increased pay impacted worker retention at Raising Cane's?

• The increased pay is helping with worker retention, according to Raising Cane's.

[04] Pizano's Typical Day as a Raising Cane's Manager

1. What are some of Pizano's daily responsibilities as a manager?

• She inspects the restaurant for damage, sends emails to overnight workers, helps prep ingredients, manages 96 employees, and coaches workers on tasks like properly packaging food.
• She takes around 15,000 steps at work on a typical 10-hour day.

2. What are some of the challenges Pizano faces in her role?

• She has to fire workers for policy violations, which she says are "never easy" conversations.
• She also has to monitor and coach workers on things like portion control for sauces to avoid excess usage.
• She occasionally gets late-night calls about issues at the restaurant, like a car chase incident or an air conditioning problem.