FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770

Jenna Weisbord, 202-662-0766

mhaller@franchise.org

jweisbord@franchise.org

IFA STATEMENT ON PROPOSAL TO INCREASE MINIMUM WAGE

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2013—International Franchise Association Senior Vice President of Government Relations & Public Policy Judith Thorman issued the following statement today following legislation introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) that would raise the country’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.

“Franchise small businesses have been hit hard with constant incremental cost increases that make it more difficult for them to expand and create new jobs, such as Affordable Care Act compliance costs, tax increases, hikes in commodity prices and the lack of available capital. Raising the minimum wage by nearly 30 percent will pile on additional costs on the backs of these job creators.

“Franchises provide many Americans their first job. These jobs are many times at the minimum wage, but provide workers their first step on the employment ladder. Increasing the minimum wage will not increase opportunities for these younger entry-level workers, but rather will make it harder for employers to offer these positions by driving up payroll and labor costs, in effect hurting the people proponents of raising the minimum wage want to help.”

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About the International Franchise Association

The International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. Celebrating over 50 years of excellence, education and advocacy, IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising. Through its media awareness campaign highlighting the theme, Franchising: Building Local Businesses, One Opportunity at a Time, IFA promotes the economic impact of the more than 825,000 franchise establishments, which support nearly 18 million jobs and $2.1 trillion of economic output for the U.S. economy. IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law and business development.