There is no doubt that people love Chick-fil-A. If you don’t believe us, check the drive-thru line at your local Chick-fil-A. However, it should not take an HR professional to recognize that paying people with chicken sandwiches is not appropriate. News outlets across the country picked up on the story of a North Carolina Chick-fil-A store soliciting “volunteer” workers in exchange for chicken sandwiches – Chick-fil-a pays workers with sandwiches (fox8.com). Not surprisingly, everyone except the Store Manager recognized the pitfalls of this clever idea.
While it is easy to recognize the folly of this idea, organizations frequently make other employment decisions that are equally unwise. Some examples we have seen: (1) Failing to pay minimum wage (2) Inappropriately making adjustments to employee time cards (3) Offering a “comp” time program that helps avoid overtime obligations (4) Allowing/instructing employees to perform work off the clock (5) Misclassifying employees, paying a salary for positions that fail to meet the requirements to be salaried and exempt from overtime.