Pizza Hut outlet threatens Irma-fleeing employees with action for not showing up for work
12 Sep 2017
In the wake of Hurricane Irma, that wreaked havoc in Florida, Pizza Hut is facing ire from Twitterati for some insensitive instructions, putting its minimum-wage workers at risk.
As people acted on governor Rick Scott's orders to evacuate, a Pizza Hut restaurant in the path of the storm issued a dubious warning to its crew.
In a Twitter post that has now gone viral, a Pizza Hut team member shared a photo of a printout pinned to a cork board that advised Pizza Hut employees on hurricane ''guidelines.''
The paper, addressed to all team members starts with expectations ''as hurricane Irma approaches Florida,'' stating ''our #1 priority is the safety and security of our team. But, we also have a responsibility and commitment to our community to be there when they need us. With that said, I/we need some guidelines in place to ensure both of those expectations are met.''
The sheet stated in general rules that the store will close 6-12 hours before a storm, and that if a team member planned to evacuate, they would need to alert a manager and let them know when they plan to return. But it said a member is only allowed a ''24-hour period before storm 'grace period' '' and must be back from an evacuation within 72 hours.
''You cannot evacuate Friday for a Tuesday storm event!'' adding that after the 24-hour grace period, team members are expected to work their assigned shifts.
''Failure to show for these shifts, regardless of reason, will be considered a no call/no show and documentation will be issued,'' it read.
Pizza Hut took a lot of flak on Twitter for instructions that put minimum-wage workers at risk, but responded with a statement posted on its website.
It read, in part: ''We absolutely do not have a policy that dictates when team members can leave or return from a disaster, and the manager who posted this letter did not follow company guidelines. We can also confirm that the local franchise operator has addressed this situation with the manager involved.''
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