A Chick-Fil-A Tried To Pay Employees With Meals Only

Many fast food fans swear by the sheer tastiness of Chick-fil-A's menu. In fact, the chain's chicken is even popular enough to inspire couples to cater their wedding with Chick-fil-A trucks. But for all its fan following, Chick-fil-A's meals will not pay a car note or electricity bill. However, CBS News reports that didn't stop one location from attempting to pay its employees in free chicken sandwiches.

Chick-fil-A lover or not, we get that this revelation may have caught you off guard. The fast food company's consistent commitment to good customer service and notorious high standards for franchisees has given the brand's operations an almost good-as-gold reputation. As a matter of fact, WCNC reports you'll actually have more luck getting into Harvard than getting your own Chick-fil-A franchise.

But it seems one North Carolina Chick-fil-A's business practices managed to slip through the Chick-Fil-A corporation's franchisee expectation cracks. And the franchise in question is now being fined by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Just last week, Crumbl Cookies was caught up in controversy after allegedly breaking child labor laws, and now it seems it's Chick-fil-A's turn to face some negative attention for violating Fair Labor legislation. According to CBS News, a North Carolina Chick-fil-A located in Hendersonville first raised suspicion online when it advertised a "volunteer program" in a since-deleted Facebook post. The said volunteer work involved manning the chain's express drive-thru for an hour in exchange for five free entrees. 

While the chain defended its actions by stating its volunteers signed up for the work of their own accord, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOT) wasn't convinced by these claims. As CBS News reports, the DOT fined the Chick-fil-A location $6,685 for paying its "volunteers" with free food, as well as violating child labor regulations. The DOT discovered several underage workers were responsible for operating a trash compactor — dangerous work that employees under 18 are not legally allowed to engage in. Other outlets, such as The New York Post and Fox5Atlanta state the fine was for $6,450. 

Additionally, the outlets report that the Chick-fil-A franchise must pay seven employees $235 each for the time they spent working for the company. 

A spokesperson for Chick-fil-A did state to Business Insider that the volunteer program was not endorsed by the company, adding "Most restaurants are individually owned and operated, and it was a program at an individually owned restaurant."