A few restaurants in a Florida chain have started implementing an Affordable Care Act surcharge, but employees’ coverage doesn’t start until December, according to CNN.
Gator’s Dockside restaurant group is charging patrons to help with compliance costs.
“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% surcharge on all food and beverage purchases only.” a sign reads at one of the restaurants, alerting customers to the surcharge, according to CNN.
Sandra Clark, the director of operations for the group, said that the fee will help the group keep full-time employees on their books.
“I’m just trying to keep the employees I have that I’ve worked hard to train,” she told CNN.
The group hired an additional full-time employee to help them comply with the Affordable Care Act, under which they now have to offer health insurance to all full-time employees.
Republique, a restaurant in Los Angeles, Calif. imposes a three percent surcharge so that it can provide health insurance to full-time employees, but a spokesman for the restaurant told CNN that the fee is not related to Obamacare.
