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April 28, 2020

Outback Steakhouse parent cuts hours for 700+ positions in CT; continues to pay them

Photo | Contributed Employees at nine Outback Steakhouses and a Fleming's in Connecticut have had their hours significantly reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Matt Pilon

Bloomin Brands, the parent of Outback Steakhouse and several other casual dining brands, disclosed to Connecticut’s labor department that it has significantly reduced the hours of 702 employees in Connecticut.

The jobs are spread across nine Outback Steakhouse locations and Fleming’s in West Hartford, according to a notice sent Friday to the Department of Labor under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN Act.

Bloomin said it reduced hours for the “vast majority of its restaurant employees” in Connecticut effective March 15, the day Gov. Ned Lamont announced he would order restaurants and bars closed to combat the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. 

The restaurant operator said it was filing the notice out of “an abundance of caution” as the work reductions may technically qualify as layoffs under federal law.

“While [Bloomin] has not yet terminated the employment of any restaurant employee, and does not have current plans to terminate the employment of any restaurant employee, the company believes the sudden and unexpected reduction of hours could constitute a layoff within the meaning of the” WARN Act, Marquis W. Heilig, vice president of litigation, wrote in the notice to labor officials here.

Elizabeth Watts, a spokesperson for Bloomin, said Tuesday that the notice "was sent as a contingency to fulfill a legal requirement." 

Bloomin had issued a press release on April 16 stating it had not terminated or furloughed any employees during the pandemic, and that it had provided four weeks of relief pay and free pickup meals to workers who had seen their hours reduced. The company said at the time that it hoped to continue providing those benefits, but that it would reassess them every two weeks. It has now provided the benefits for six weeks, according to Watts, who said the company continues to assess the situation biweekly.

A number of restaurants in Connecticut have filed WARN notices since Lamont's closure order, include Friendly’s, the Hard Rock Cafe at Foxwoods, Bartaco, Panera and Hartford’s Chowder Pot.

It’s unclear how many more restaurants may have reduced hours or workforce without filing a notice, either because they’re exempt due to size or other reasons, or because they didn’t believe they were required to file one.

Correction: An earlier version of this story has been modified to clarify why Bloomin filed a WARN notice with Connecticut's labor department and to include the fact that impacted workers are still being paid by the company. The story has also been updated to include comment from the company. 

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