FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770

Jenna Weisbord, 202-662-0766

mhaller@franchise.org

jweisbord@franchise.org

IFA OPPOSES MINIMUM WAGE PROPOSALS IN SEATTLE THAT WOULD DESTROY THE FRANCHISE BUSINESS MODEL

WASHINGTON, May 20, 2014 —The International Franchise Association expressed strong opposition to any possible minimum wage proposals that would unfairly and unjustifiably destroy the established franchise model.

In a letter sent to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and Members of the Seattle City Council, IFA highlighted the unprecedented challenges the Mayor’s proposal would create for businesses across a wide range of industries. Under the Mayor’s proposal, franchisors will no longer be able to offer new franchise locations to potential owners of single establishments. The result, more corporate owned stores and eliminating a business model responsible for creating small business ownership for millions of Americans.

“According to case law as well as state and federal statutes, franchisees are not the employees of franchisors,” said Dean Heyl, IFA vice president of State Government Relations, Public Policy and Tax Counsel. “Likewise, franchisees’ employees are not the employees of franchisors. It is the owner of an individual local franchise who is responsible for the hiring and wage decisions at his or her location. To hold otherwise, would be unprecedented, raise constitutional concerns, and would overturn basic tenets of contract law.”

As emphasized in the recent study on wage increases by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, a mandated hike in the minimum wage could result in loss of up to 500,000 jobs by 2016. IFA urges Seattle lawmakers to not disrupt a business format model that provides more than 19,000 jobs to local Seattle residents and that is outpacing the overall growth of the U.S. economy.

To view the full letter, please click here .

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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.

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