The Corporate-to-Franchisee Impact of a Bojangles Day Off

Bojangles, the 700-plus-unit fried chicken franchise, shut down all its company-owned stores on Monday to help ease the workload of about 8,000 employees. The brand used a day off as a means to give employees “a well-deserved break," 

The day off was put in place only for company-owned units, however; Monday was business as usual for more than 400 of Bojangles’ franchise-owned restaurants, which make up about 65% of the brand’s operation.

With this provision, Bojangles has shown a degree of separation within its corporate-franchisee culture. It allowed independent franchisees to stick to a normal routine, but the day off at company-owned restaurants suggests a larger problem exists — a problem that wasn’t addressed by the brand across the board.

Labor issues are not a new issue in the restaurant world, but Bojangles has shown that an across-the-board provision may be difficult for independent franchisees to follow. If a corporate office takes control away from franchises, the brand may suddenly become a less desirable franchise to invest in. This could have been the case had Bojangles decided to mandate this day off across the board.

This also suggests a fix to the restaurant labor dispute could be less dependent on a corporate office and more on independent franchisees or a worker union.

The restaurant industry at large has been forced to navigate a bevy of labor challenges over the past several months, but when corporate offices are forced to surrender the labor power to independent units, it can be tough to mandate a company-wide provision to take care of employees. Bojangles took a first step toward addressing this concern, but it may also prove a leap for a franchisee and franchisor to get on the same page.

As reported by QSR Magazine, “the ‘rest and recharge” day off was motivated by “industry wide labor shortages and other stresses put on its employees who’ve worked hard through the pandemic.” Employees at Bojangles’ franchised locations (which were open on Monday) are now forced to assess their work schedules and evaluate if they have been overworked after not receiving such a day off. Employees at company-owned restaurants (closed on Monday) were not paid for the day off, and may be displeased to have lost the opportunity for work.