At Chipotle, it's not just the guac that's extra. Some of their employee procedures are, too. Take, for example, the fact that they have a nurse check if employees are actually sick or just hungover when they call in sick to work.
Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol explained the procedure at a conference, according to Business Insider. "We have nurses on call, so that if you say, 'Hey, I've been sick,' you get the call into the nurse," he said. "The nurse validates that it's not a hangover—you're really sick—and then we pay for the day off to get healthy again."
Now this isn't a way to just expose or embarrass employees, it's actually done to make sure Chipotle restaurants have the cleanest and healthiest conditions possible. Back in 2017, there was a norovirus outbreak in Virginia that was linked to an unenforced sick policy at the Tex-Mex chain, CNBC reported. Managers were letting Chipotle employees work while they were sick which spread to customers.
The on-call nurses are meant to make sure that every employee is healthy enough to be working when they're on the clock, however not every employee has to see a nurse to receive a paid sick day. “Chipotle ensures that all employees are healthy so that they can prepare real food and serve it to our customers. When an employee reports serious symptoms to their manager, the clinical nurse team at Zero Hour Health will follow up with those employees to understand their illness," said Vice President of Food Safety at Chipotle, Kerry Bridges, in a statement. "Not all ill employees talk to a nurse, but all Chipotle employees receive paid sick leave from their first day of employment to use when they are not feeling well.”
Although, it's a challenge to make sure restaurants remain safe and clean no matter how many preventative measures are taken.
"We've got cleaner that actually kills norovirus when you clean the tables in the dining room," Niccol added, as per Business Insider. Hopefully, this will help ease anyone's apprehension they may have had following the 2017 incident. Burrito bowls for all!
