Viral E-mail Shows Applebee’s Franchise Exec Calling Lower Pay an ‘Advantage’

In a startling comment made viral this week, an Applebee’s franchise executive has called lower pay an advantage of high gas prices.

Wayne Pankratz, executive director of operations for Applebee’s franchise Apple Central LLC, recently sent out an email detailing how higher gas prices could be used to lower wages for workers of the company.

The email naturally went viral, sparking an outcry across social media.

Pankratz, executive director of operations for Applebee’s franchise Apple Central LLC in Kansas City, Missouri, outlined how the rising price of gas could ultimately benefit the company.

Specifically, he explained, it could enable Applebee’s to lower workers’ wages.

“Everyone has heard that gas prices continue to rise,” he wrote in the email. “The advantage this has for us is that it will increase application flow and has the potential to lower our average wage.”

The executive wrote that those in Applebee’s worker pool are often living paycheck to paycheck, meaning any disruption to their income would make it hard to keep up with bills. For them, he said, rising gas prices could mean having to take on more work to cover living costs.

“Many will need to work more hours or get a second job,” he wrote. “Do things to make sure you are the employer of choice. Get schedules completed early so they can plan their other jobs around yours. Most importantly, have the culture and environment that will attract people.”

In the third quarter of Q3 alone, more than 2.5 million workers quit the leisure and hospitality industry with many citing the pay as a reason.

In a statement to CBS, Applebee’s said Pankratz is no longer employed by franchise owner Apple Central. Pankratz’s memo was “the opinion of an individual, not Applebee’s,” Kevin Carroll, chief operations officer at Applebee’s, told CBS.

Pankratz’s attitude isn’t an outlier and “shouldn’t shock us,” says Ileen DeVault, a professor of labor history at Cornell University and director of The Worker Institute.

“Restaurant workers have been telling us for quite a while that this is the situation in the industry. It’s just, here’s somebody being really blatant. He’s saying what we all knew all along,” the labor expert said.

Applebee’s workers make an average of $11.76 per hour, according to Payscale.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.