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[KSweeley]

Chipotle has made a statement that they believe a employee at their Sterling, VA location was working despite being sick: https://apnews.com/52a6ad0f43f7fe5e...ays-employee-worked-while-ill-at-Va.-location

Chipotle says it believes an employee was working while sick at a Virginia location where dozens of customers reported becoming ill earlier this month with what health officials think was norovirus.

After the company reported improved sales for the second quarter Tuesday, CEO Steve Ells said that a company investigation into the illnesses found that its leadership at the store didn’t adhere to its protocols.

“We believe someone was working while sick,” Ells said, without giving specifics.

A Chipotle representative noted that employees are not supposed to work when ill, and the company offers paid sick days for hourly employees. Ells said the company is adding training to what he called “excellent” protocols to prevent further norovirus cases.

Chipotle’s image has been vulnerable as it tries to reassure customers its food is safe since an E. coli outbreak in fall 2015, which was followed by a norovirus outbreak at a single restaurant that same year. Norovirus is a leading cause of illnesses from contaminated food, and infected employees are a frequent source of outbreaks.

The Denver-based chain has been making progress in winning back customers, and said sales rose 8 percent during the second quarter, following a 24 percent decline in the year-ago period.

But the most recent figure doesn’t reflect any potential fallout from the reported illnesses in Sterling, Virginia. At another location in Dallas, the company blamed a structural gap for mice falling from the ceiling.

Chipotle said those events have dampened its recovery efforts in recent days, but that it did not know what the long term impact might be. It stood by its guidance for sales at established location to rise in the “high single digit” percentages for the year. For all of last year, the sales figure declined 20 percent.

Larry Chiagouris, a professor of marketing at Pace University, noted that the chain will be closely watched and held accountable for any mistakes.

“If somebody gets sick after eating at a Chipotle, they’re going to be more likely to think it’s Chipotle,” he said.

 

[Linkura]

Ells said the company is adding training to what he called “excellent” protocols to prevent further norovirus cases.

They didn't do this before?

Fuck off Ells, you had your chance. Obviously the managers are not properly giving time off to sick employees. There's systemic issues in the company that they just haven't fixed.

 

[Raylan Targaryen]

No shit. Sick days aren't allowed in America

 

[Earthstrike]

So, how about a sick day program?

wait for it...




HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[Albino_Yeti]

Moes execs are celebrating hard today.

 

[Username1198]

Chipotle a worse company than Comcast??

Also just go to freebirds guys, it's like chipotle minus the ecoli and diarrhea

 

[Lazy vs Crazy]

Anyone that has ever worked an hourly food service or retail job will tell you that even if you do have sick time you manger will treat you like absolute garbage and retaliate against you if you try to call out.

Gotta change work culture if we want things like this to stop.

 

[GalacticToast]

Frankly, if you get sick you don't even deserve a job. Get your bootstraps together.

 

[sir_kevith]

No shit. Sick days aren't allowed in America

Yup, I accrued hundreds of supposed sick hours at my old job but the fastest way to be on a managers shit list for life is to take a sick day.

 

[Linkura]

No shit. Sick days aren't allowed in America

So, how about a sick day program?

wait for it...




HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

They supposedly give paid sick days to employees. But my bet is the individual store managers aren't following company protocol for some reason (probably some bullshit metric that punishes them for sick employees). Company is fucking toxic.

 

[smurfx]

yeah they offer "sick days" but what they don't say is that the employees will likely catch shit from managers if they actually use them.

 

[RedHill]

Maybe if employees weren't so scared of retaliation they could take a sick day and prevent this

 

[Zyae]

Chipotle a worse company than Comcast??

Also just go to freebirds guys, it's like chipotle minus the ecoli and diarrhea

This happens in every single company in america

 

[GoldenEye 007]

They didn't do this before?

Fuck off Ells, you had your chance. Obviously the managers are not properly giving time off to sick employees. There's systemic issues in the company that they just haven't fixed.

To be fair, that's a systemic issue in the US. I'm actually shocked to learn Chipotle offers paid sick time - although I remember hearing in general, they pay better than other fast food places.

Wouldn't be shocked if the local manager gave the employee grief about calling out - if the employee tried to call out.

 

[Snaku]

No shit. Sick days aren't allowed in America

Especially in food service.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

Anyone that has ever worked an hourly food service or retail job will tell you that even if you do have sick time you manger will treat you like absolute garbage and retaliate against you if you try to call out.

Gotta change work culture if we want things like this to stop.

Yup. "Why are my hours next week cut in half?!"

 

[devilhawk]

Why don't we hear about monthly incidences of norovirus at McDonalds or any number of places? It just means that Chipotle's food preparation practices are still a factor here.

 

[sir_kevith]

yeah they offer "sick days" but what they don't say is that the employees will likely catch shit from managers if they actually use them.

Yeah or if you're sick for more than 2 days, they want a doctor's note when you come back. So then you gotta goto an expensive ass urgent care visit when your healthcare is garbage in this country.

 

[Speevy]

Is there a worse place to eat right now?

 

[frontovik]

TIL sick days aren't allowed in America. Disgraceful.

 

[Alebrije]

But people keep going to Chipotle....

 

[Linkura]

To be fair, that's a systemic issue in the US. I'm actually shocked to learn Chipotle offers sick time - although I remember hearing in general, they pay better than other fast food places.

Wouldn't be shocked if the local manager gave the employee grief about calling out - if the employee tried to call out.

I think they started to offer it after the fiasco- or at least gave it prominence in articles.

I understand it's systemic. But Chipotle REALLY has to be the ONE company that does not fuck around with allowing sick days. They should have already had policies in place after the first PR nightmare demanding that managers allow sick employees to not work and forbid retaliation.

 

[Klotera]

I'm surprised we haven't seen this happen more often at more restaurants (well, at least that we know of). Knowing how managers are about time off at these kinds of jobs, I guarantee a lot of people work sick in food service.

 

[Kill3r7]

They supposedly give paid sick days to employees. But my bet is the individual store managers aren't following company protocol for some reason (probably some bullshit metric that punishes them for sick employees). Company is fucking toxic.

They introduced metrics and promoted a results oriented approach and wonder why shit goes sideways.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

Anyone that has ever worked an hourly food service or retail job will tell you that even if you do have sick time you manger will treat you like absolute garbage and retaliate against you if you try to call out.

Gotta change work culture if we want things like this to stop.

Yup, 100% this. I work a food service job part time and my coworkers are routinely working sick. They tell you in training not to work while ill, but they've recently changed the rules to require you to call your store manager instead of direct supervisor in order to call in sick, and they require a doctor's note if yoy have to be absent for more than one day. The result? No one calls in sick, instead they just come to work and vomit in the trashcan in the back.

 

[reKon]

Yup, 100% this. I work a food service job part time and my coworkers are routinely working sick. They tell you in training not to work while ill, but they've recently changed the rules to require you to call your store manager instead of direct supervisor in order to call in sick, and they require a doctor's note if yoy have to be absent for more than one day. The result? No one calls in sick, instead they just come to work and vomit in the trashcan in the back.

FUCKED UP

 

[andrerobot]

No shit. Sick days aren't allowed in America

This ain't communist Europe, buddy.

 

[Speevy]

But people keep going to Chipotle....

See a doctor. Seriously, see a doctor if you ate at Chipotle.

 

[commedieu]

We used to call sick days working at Noahs bagels unemployment requests.

 

[Conciliator]

Came here to talk about sick day politics, but looks like I'm not needed...I'll just second whatever others are saying. Taking a sick day in retail costs a fuck of a lot of clout.

 

[frankie_baby]

Yup, 100% this. I work a food service job part time and my coworkers are routinely working sick. They tell you in training not to work while ill, but they've recently changed the rules to require you to call your store manager instead of direct supervisor in order to call in sick, and they require a doctor's note if yoy have to be absent for more than one day. The result? No one calls in sick, instead they just come to work and vomit in the trashcan in the back.

Report them

 

[Lord of Ostia]

FUCKED UP

Yes, yes it is.

 

[Envelope]

yeah nobody in food service calls in sick because you get so much shit for not showing up

 

[hodayathink]

I think they started to offer it after the fiasco- or at least gave it prominence in articles.

I understand it's systemic. But Chipotle REALLY has to be the ONE company that does not fuck around with allowing sick days. They should have already had policies in place after the first PR nightmare demanding that managers allow sick employees to not work and forbid retaliation.

Forbidding retaliation in a job like this, where hours and responsibilities are fluid by design, isn't really as easy as you would think. The best you could probably pull off is raising the minimum hours per employee per week, so you don't have the "going from 30-40 hours this week to 12-15 next week" thing happening, but then they'll just give them the worst hours, or the worst responsibilities while working.

Report them

Who? The coworkers? Because that's a pretty easy way to get people fired.

 

[Linkura]

Forbidding retaliation in a job like this, where hours and responsibilities are fluid by design, isn't really as easy as you would think. The best you could probably pull off is raising the minimum hours per employee per week, so you don't have the "going from 30-40 hours this week to 12-15 next week" thing happening, but then they'll just give them the worst hours, or the worst responsibilities while working.

They could have a whistleblower program and punitively punish/eventually fire if they do enough the asshole managers. I know it's not perfect, but it's obvious what they're doing now isn't working and they need to make an active effort to ensure food safety.

At any rate, my point is there's more they could be doing, and the fact that the CEO even says "the company is adding training to what he called 'excellent' protocols to prevent further norovirus cases" means they clearly weren't doing enough before, after all the shit they went through. Why the fuck weren't they training on FOOD SAFETY protocols BEFORE?

 

[K.Sabot]

gotta go to college to get sick days


they're even taking away meal breaks now

 

[Kaako]

Fucked up work culture creates fucked up results.

 

[Kill3r7]

We used to call sick days working at Noahs bagels unemployment requests.

Correct but most of these places are designed to run short staffed so one or two employees calling out halts the entire operation.

 

[RastaMentality]

Report them

who does this help?

 

[hodayathink]

gotta go to college to get sick days


they're even taking away meal breaks now

They can mandate giving people sick days all they want. Chipotle has. The problem is people being afraid to take them because they're worried about losing their jobs, and as has been stated, it's going to take changing work culture (and workplace protections) in the US in general to change that.

 

[frankie_baby]

Forbidding retaliation in a job like this, where hours and responsibilities are fluid by design, isn't really as easy as you would think. The best you could probably pull off is raising the minimum hours per employee per week, so you don't have the "going from 30-40 hours this week to 12-15 next week" thing happening, but then they'll just give them the worst hours, or the worst responsibilities while working.



Who? The coworkers? Because that's a pretty easy way to get people fired.

Report the business as a whole to the health inspectors

 

[Lord of Ostia]

Report them

For what? Their rules about sick days? Pretty sure it isnt illegal, just bullshit and predatory

 

[hodayathink]

They could have a whistleblower program and punitively punish/eventually fire if they do enough the asshole managers. I know it's not perfect, but it's obvious what they're doing now isn't working and they need to make an active effort to ensure food safety.

At any rate, my point is there's more they could be doing, and the fact that the CEO even says "the company is adding training to what he called 'excellent' protocols to prevent further norovirus cases" means they clearly weren't doing enough before, after all the shit they went through. Why the fuck weren't they training on FOOD SAFETY protocols BEFORE?

As someone who works in food service, they probably were training on food safety, and most of the employees were ignoring it. For food safety, you kind of need for someone to be on people's asses to make sure it gets enforced, because if not many people are going to take the easy way out, even if it means the risk of getting people sick.

Report the business as a whole to the health inspectors

At best, this will/would result in managers forcing sick people to go back home if they go into work, which still leads to the retaliatory practices that are the whole reason people try to go to work while sick.

 

[Zelenogorsk]

yeah nobody in food service calls in sick because you get so much shit for not showing up

yep. i just worked 4 shifts over the weekend at my food service job while having a terrible headache and coughing up green mucus the entire time. Restaurants are always going to be staffed with the bare minimum amount of people, and there really isn't room for someone to call in sick.

 

[darkinstinct]

We used to call sick days working at Noahs bagels unemployment requests.

Looks like the US never got rid of slavery, they just extended it to all races. If I get food served or prepared by a sick person that's the last time I eat there. Between debt (for freaking education, that should be free like in every civilized country) and non-existant health care (deductibles, really?) and lack of holidays I wonder why there is no mass exodus. Y'all should move to Europe for a decent life with no fear.

 

[Jkmetal]

Maybe if employees weren't so scared of retaliation they could take a sick day and prevent this

If it is such a big problem (it is) then the pressure on managers is also enormous. Remember, the off the clock and half an hour under full time weeks are still in play. Meet your targets and get a bonus.

 

[ThaiGrocer]

Throwing up? Think Chipotle!

 

[Slayven]

We used to call sick days working at Noahs bagels unemployment requests.

Damn

 

[sir_kevith]

Looks like the US never got rid of slavery, they just extended it to all races. If I get food served or prepared by a sick person that's the last time I eat there. Between debt (for freaking education, that should be free like in every civilized country) and non-existant health care (deductibles, really?) and lack of holidays I wonder why there is no mass exodus. Y'all should move to Europe for a decent life with no fear.

I don't even think one should have to work if they have just a cold. It's just messed up to risk spreading that all around, especially to customers.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

Report the business as a whole to the health inspectors

Ok, let me give you the rundown of what happens if I call the health department on my store.

Option 1: They come on a day when no one is sick, they see nothing substantial, nothing happens.

Option 2: They find a violation. Maybe the department has to close for the day, employee gets sent home, managers get a stern talking to by health inspector, they get something in their file. Next day, Employee who was sick gets chewed out and possibly fired for violating company policy by coming in sick. My direct supervisor (who is in no way responsible for these rules and has no control over this) also gets chewed out and possibly fired. Management can then claim they 'solved' the problem and get off scott free.

Wow, wonder why I dont do that? Maybe because I dont want to screw over the poor 20 year old living paycheck to paycheck, or my supervisor who has 4 kids to support by herself and has the thankless job of being responsible for everything yet has control over hardly anything.