Pizza Hut is laying off more than 1,200 delivery drivers in California. The layoffs will last until the end of February 2024 as California's minimum wage is about to increase by $4/hour. As California's minimum wage rises from $16 to $20 an hour, fast food workers in the state were due to receive a nearly 30% raise in April.
According to reports, PacPizza, which operates Pizza Hut, said in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice (WARN) that the company made the business decision to eliminate first-party delivery services and therefore eliminated all delivery driver positions. This written notice was submitted to the California Employment Development Department.
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act is a U.S. labor law that requires employers who are about to have large-scale layoffs (100 or more workers) or plant closings to provide 60 days’ written notice in advance.
Pizza Hut's second franchise, Southern California Pizza Company, also canceled its in-house delivery service and laid off 841 drivers, according to a Dec. 1 WARN Act notice.
The layoffs will affect drivers at Pizza Hut locations in Sacramento, Palm Springs, Los Angeles and other cities across the state.