Due to the “pay” it advertised on a recent job offering, a fast food franchise in North Carolina is receiving harsh criticism.
On its open Facebook page, a Hendersonville Chick-fil-A franchise published a kind of job posting on July 26. The business requested “volunteers” to staff its drive-thru, but not for payment but rather for Chick-fil-A dinners.
They need volunteers for their brand-new Drive Thru Express. Earn five free dinners for every hour of work, according to the now-deleted Facebook post.
Hey @ChickfilA can you explain why your allowing a franchisee to hire unpaid positions? This is unacceptable. #chickfila #unionize pic.twitter.com/mR3RUOBRML
— 🏴🚩Bona Bones 🚩🏴 (@Bona_Bones) July 27, 2022
The potential “volunteers” may get up to five Chick-fil-A “Cool Wraps” for $7.29 every shift, but that would only be four cents more than North Carolina’s current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
Regardless of the Chick-fil- A day later, a franchisee removed the message. The response was fast and is still being discussed on social media.
One Facebook user questioned, “Can I volunteer to own the shop then fire whichever moron came up with the volunteering job idea?”
“The state department of labor needs to be informed of it. Volunteers are not permitted to work for-profit organizations, particularly those who would replace paid staff. Someone said on Reddit, “The volunteers are compensated in Script. The store has a MASSIVE liability risk, as well.
Can you please clarify why you’re allowing a franchisee to fill unpaid roles, @ChickfilA? This is unacceptable,” a Twitter user said.
Another person wrote, “The national median rent price is $2,000, or 466 Chick-fil-A meals.”
On a post that had nothing to do with the listing, someone left a remark on the Hendersonville Chick-fil-Facebook A’s page, saying, “Imagine not paying people for working and making a post about appreciating the job they do all in the same sentence.” It seems that the fast food restaurant’s posts have restricted who may leave comments on its website as a result of the barrage of criticism.
In the remarks of the since-deleted post, the business stated, “Thanks for everyone’s attention on this subject. Since this is a volunteer-based opportunity, anyone who feels like volunteering can choose to do so. Numerous people have signed up, enjoyed participating, and repeated their participation. The individuals that signed up did so willingly. If you are interested in working in our shop, we pay $19 per hour and are still seeking full- and part-time team members.
Wow. Chick-fil-a, which makes a bazillion dollars a day, wants "volunteers" to work its drive-thru lines.
Posted by Labor 411 on Wednesday, 27 July 2022
While it’s normal for restaurants like Chipotle or Starbucks to give staff members free lunches, these businesses often also pay their employees in cash. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits for-profit companies from employing volunteers and for-profit private sector employers from accepting employee volunteerism.
A spokesman for Chick-fil-A said that while the corporation did not support the initiative, the restaurant has opted to terminate it. The majority of eateries are independently owned and run, and this program was at one of those, they claimed.
Thursday night, Joel Benson, the restaurant operator at the Chick-fil-A location in North Carolina, updated his Facebook status as follows: He responded, in part, that they have chosen to terminate this initiative and not move further any further after thoroughly analyzing claims and other information brought to their notice, as one potentially have. They are always seeking entertaining and original methods to interact with their devoted followers and have a good influence on their team, community, and neighbors.
Sadly, they rather brought unneeded negative and inappropriate local/national attention to the area this time. He apologises for this and promises to keep doing all in his power to treat their visitors with regard, decency, and integrity. This concept was a little too original, and it had unforeseen results.
