Your favorite Shack Burger is about to cost more than $6 after tax. Shake Shack has announced price increases on some of its menu items in order to better compensate employees. Sounds noble, doesn’t it?
Doesnt sound noble. Does sound like an employer doing the “right thing”. Although, to be sure of that, do they offer any detail as to how the better compensation is going to work - for example, a % increase in the burger price equates to a % increase in wage rates?
Call me an old cynic if you will, but as a lifelong trade unionist I am instinctively dubious about any employer making claims to be looking after employee interests.
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Assuming wage increases are effective when increased menu prices are installed, the plan works only if revenue keeps up with higher payroll expenses, or the business is willing to accept lower margins if it loses customers to higher menu prices.
Did a new Minimum Wage kick in January 1st where Shake Shack does business?
Indeed it did. NYC’s minimum wage rose to $11/hr, from $9.70.
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Mystery solved… sounds like shake shack is just putting a nice spin on “now it’s a law we have to pay our employees better so we are going to raise prices and make the customer pay more” 
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I have zero problem with this. The price hike will be about 1.8% across the board ($.26 for a Manhattan burger). I don’t think that’s going to break anyone.
No, it’s not a big deal, but it is amusing that they’re using it as a marketing tool to imply they are doing it because they want to treat their employers well, not because they have no choice. Given the choice, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be raising wages or prices.
Kind of like the “no hormones, ever!” announcement on packaged chicken. It’s because it’s illegal to treat chickens with hormones, not because chicken producers care about consumers’ health and well-being.
I refer you to my earlier comment.
The prosecution rests.
Let us not forget, this is a branch of the same company that recently eliminated tipping but raise prices at their more formal restaurants. Danny Meyer is working this experiment, and the jury is still out…
This was also meant to better compensate employees, especially in back of the house.
