Texas Roadhouse CEO Gives Up Yearly Salary to Help ‘Front-line Workers’ During Coronavirus
Texas Roadhouse CEO Kent Taylor is forgoing his salary for the rest of the year to help restaurant workers who've been affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
According to MarketWatch, the steakhouse's founder and chief executive has given up both his base salary and annual bonus for the period from March 18 through Jan. 7, 2021. The money will instead "be used to pay front-line workers" of the American chain restaurant.
The move comes at a time when many food service employees are struggling due to the global health crisis. In a growing number of places, restaurants have been ordered to cease all dine-in activities, leaving servers and bartenders without a bulk of their revenue that normally comes from diners' gratuity.
But takeout is still a viable option for eaters, and Texas Roadhouse is still open in that regard. The CEO recently posted a note to Texas Roadhouse's website outlining the restaurant's ongoing efforts in delivering quality service to patrons while keeping both staff and customers safe.
"In the areas where our dining rooms are closed, we are ramping up our To-Go and Curbside services and we are also turning some of our parking lots into temporary drive-thrus to serve our regular menu," Taylor says. "We are rolling out Family Value Packs as well, so stay tuned to your local Texas Roadhouse for more information."
"The bottom line is these are challenging times, and we are all in this together. We will continue to do our best to adapt to your needs and help support every community we serve," the message continues.
Taylor's compensation was $1.3 million in 2018, according to Louisville Business First. That was down from $8.5 million in 2017, although his base salary remained at $525,000. He received stock awards of $7.3 million in 2017.