For Hardees franchisees choosing the Pro or Enterprise Service Editions, what is the minimum Monthly Uptime Percentage required to avoid Downtime?
Hardees Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
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- Service Level. During the Digital Ordering Term, Digital Ordering will be operational and available to Operator at least 99% of the time in any calendar month (the "SLA"). Solely to the extent that Customer chooses the Pro or Enterprise Service Editions, the SLA thresholds and applicable service credits are as follows:
- a. If Olo does not meet the SLA, and if Customer and Operator meet its obligations under the Agreement and this Addendum, Operator will be eligible to receive the Service Credits described below. Subject to this SLA and 7.3 of the Agreement, this SLA states Operator's sole and exclusive remedy for any failure by Olo to meet the SLA.
- b. Definitions. The following definitions shall apply to the SLA:
- i. "Downtime" means the period of time during which Digital Ordering fails to be operational and available across any platform to End Users to place a digital order (for reasons other than those set forth below) until Digital Ordering, on all platforms, again becomes operational and available to End Users.
- ii. "Permitted Downtime" means the period of time during which Digital Ordering fails to be operational and available due to software upgrades and scheduled maintenance, conducted on a regular basis between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time, of which Olo will give Customer and Authorized Operator a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours advanced notice. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Olo shall be permitted to take up to five (5) minutes of downtime on any day during the calendar year between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time without prior notice to Customer.
- iii. "Monthly Uptime Percentage" means the total number of minutes in a calendar month minus the number of minutes of Downtime suffered in a calendar month, divided by the total number of minutes in a calendar month.
- iv. "Service Credit" means the following:
Source: Item 23 — Receipts (FDD pages 85–541)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Hardees' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees who opt for the Pro or Enterprise Service Editions for digital ordering must maintain a high level of system uptime to avoid potential downtime. The document specifies that Digital Ordering will be operational and available to the franchisee at least 99% of the time in any calendar month. This is referred to as the "SLA" (Service Level Agreement). Downtime is defined as any period when the digital ordering system is not operational and available to end-users for placing orders, excluding permitted downtime for maintenance and upgrades.
To meet the SLA and avoid service credit penalties, a Hardees franchisee needs to ensure their Monthly Uptime Percentage remains at or above 99%. The Monthly Uptime Percentage is calculated by subtracting the number of minutes of Downtime in a calendar month from the total number of minutes in that month, and then dividing by the total minutes in the month. If the Monthly Uptime Percentage falls below 99.9%, the franchisee may be eligible for service credits, which are reductions in the next month's digital ordering fees. The amount of the service credit varies depending on the uptime percentage achieved.
Specifically, if the Monthly Uptime Percentage is between 99.9% and 99.5%, the franchisee will receive a 5% reduction in the next month's digital ordering fees. For uptime between 99.49% and 98.0%, the reduction is 10%. If uptime falls between 97.99% and 96.0%, the franchisee gets a 20% reduction. Should the Monthly Uptime Percentage drop below 95.9%, the franchisee is entitled to a 30% reduction in the next month's fees. These service credits are the sole and exclusive remedy for any failure by Olo to meet the SLA, subject to certain terms and conditions outlined in the agreement.
It is important to note that Olo, the exclusive provider of Digital Ordering, will notify the franchisee within five business days from the end of the month if they are eligible for a service credit. However, Olo has an additional ten business days to notify the franchisee if any downtime was caused by reasons outlined in the agreement. The maximum service credit a franchisee can receive for all Downtime in a single month is capped at 30% of the next month's fees. This incentivizes Hardees franchisees to maintain high system availability to maximize digital ordering efficiency and avoid potential revenue loss due to downtime.