A Chick-fil-A in North Carolina is facing backlash over a recent job posting they uploaded on Facebook.
According to an article published by MSN, the Hendersonville Chick-fil-A branch was looking for volunteers to work at their drive-thru. In return, they offered to pay the volunteers only through Chick-fil-A entrees—with no monetary salary involved at all. Yikes!
In the now-deleted Facebook post, the caption wrote, “We are looking for volunteers for our new Drive Thru Express! Earn 5 free entrees per shift (1 hr) worked. Message us for details.”
MSN reports, “While this offer could net potential ‘volunteers’ up to five of Chick-fil-A’s ‘Cool Wraps’ at $7.29 per shift, that amount would only translate to four cents over North Carolina’s current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.”
The internet definitely reacted to the post and shared their thoughts on all platforms. One user tweeted, “Hey @ChickfilA can you explain why your allowing a franchisee to hire unpaid positions? This is unacceptable. #chickfila #unionize” while another one wrote on Reddit, “That needs to be reported to the state department of labor. For-profit businesses aren’t allowed to use volunteers, especially not volunteers who would displace paid employees. The volunteers are being paid in scrip. It is also a HUGE liability issue for the store.”
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
Another Reddit user also put the volunteers’ wellbeing into question. “Yeah I was wondering, what happens if a “volunteer” gets hurt on the job, what about their medical bills, what if the injury keeps them from working?,” they asked.
As a response, the Chick-fil-A store took to social media and addressed the public scrutiny. They commented in the now-deleted Facebook post, “Thanks for everyone’s concern on this matter. This is a volunteer based opportunity, which means people can opt in to volunteer if they think it’s a good fit for them. We’ve had multiple people sign up and enjoy doing and have done it multiple times. People who sign up for this chose it voluntarily. We are still hiring full time and part time team members, so if you are interested in working in our store, we pay $19/hr.”
According to NBCDFW, Joel Benson, the restaurant operator at the Chick-fil-A location in North Carolina announced an official statement on Facebook and said, “After carefully reviewing claims and other details brought to our attention, as you possibly have, we have decided to stop this program and not move forward any further. We are always looking for fun and creative ways to engage our raving fans, and positively impact our community, and team members.”
“Unfortunately, this time we brought unnecessary negativity and misplaced regional/national attention to our town instead. I apologize for this and will continue to make all efforts to treat our guests with honor, dignity, and respect. This idea was a little too creative and the consequences unintended,” he concluded.
