Steve Gaibler, who has owned Niwot’s Garden Gate Cafe for 25 years, started cutting back on staff hours this year by not filling positions when someone leaves.
That’s how he’s making the numbers work as the minimum wage for unincorporated Boulder County increases. But, he warned during a recent rally of Niwot area farmers and business owners, he’s not sure his small breakfast-and-lunch spot can keep up with planned yearly increases that boost the minimum wage to $25 an hour by 2030.
He’s cut 50 hours a week by asking employees to take on extra tasks. Every $1 added to the minimum wage costs him $1,000 more a week for payroll, he said.
“It’s just unsustainable,” he said. “Restaurants already operate on razor-thin margins. Labor is our biggest expense. We’re not asking for special treatment. We’re asking for survival. This is the definition of unintended consequences. You’re destroying the businesses that provide jobs.”…