Chick-fil-A store in N.C. seeks ‘volunteers’ to work for chicken

In recent years, working at Chick-fil-A has meant being part of one of America’s most popular fast-food restaurants and a chicken-sandwich juggernaut of a business that’s brought in billions of dollars in annual sales.

So some fans were surprised this week when one North Carolina store took a different approach and asked for “volunteers” who would be paid in chicken instead of money to work at the location’s drive-thru.

“We are looking for volunteers for our new Drive Thru Express!” the store in Hendersonville, N.C., wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday that has since been deleted. “Earn 5 free entrees per shift (1 hr) worked. Message us for details.”

The store has been met with backlash for appearing to ignore the Fair Labor Standards Act, the long-standing federal law that states how employers must pay their employees for all of the hours they work. The Hendersonville location, which is run by a franchisee, responded to the online blowback by saying the “volunteer-based opportunity” was intended for people who “think it’s a good fit for them,” and argued it was different from full- or part-time employment.

“We’ve had multiple people sign up and enjoy doing and have done it multiple times,” the store wrote in a separate post.

A spokesperson for Chickfil-A, which is headquartered in Atlanta, told the on Thursday that the Hendersonville store had “decided to end this program.”

“Most restaurants are individually owned and operated, and it was a program at an individually owned restaurant,” the spokesperson said in a statement.