Find Out Which Fast-Food Eatery Underpays Its Workers the Most (No, It's Not McDonald's)

May 1, 2014 at 10:00AM by Kiri Tannenbaum

If you'd like to know which fast-food restaurant underpays its workers the most, CNN has the answer: Subway. While we've heard a lot about McDonald's workers' wages lately, Subway's employees may be impacted even more than their Golden Arches counterparts.

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According to CNN, there were more than 1,100 investigations between 2000 and 2013 that revealed that Subway franchisees violated rules of pay and hours. The data was collected from the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. CNN explains that each investigation can lead to multiple violations and fines — in this case roughly 17,000. As a result, franchisees were required by law to distribute more than $3.8 million in reimbursement to Subway workers. Last year, the Department of Labor began partnering with Subway to prevent further violations and "boost compliance efforts," reported CNN.

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CNN points out that Subway has the most locations of any fast-food chain in the country — more than 26,000 — which may indicate why the chain had more frequent violations. Subway reportedly pays its "sandwich artists" slightly over the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

Following Subway with highest number of wage and hour violations were McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts. Both corporations provided CNN with statements about their liability for under-paid and over-worked employees:

McDonald's: McDonald's and our independent owner-operators share a concern and commitment to the well-being and fair treatment of all people who work in McDonald's restaurants. Whether employed by McDonald's or by our independent owner-operators, employees should be paid correctly. When McDonald's learns of pay concerns in restaurants which we own and operate, we review the concerns and take appropriate action to resolve them. We trust that our independent owner-operators do the same. McDonald's and our owner-operators employ separately but in total over 750,000 workers in the United States, and we caution against drawing broad conclusions based on the actions of a few.

Dunkin' Donuts: The Department of Labor report represents a very small percentage of cases per year involving the Dunkin' Donuts system, given that there are more than 7,700 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants independently owned and operated by our franchisees who employ approximately 120,000 crew members at any given time across the country. However, we and our franchisees, who are solely responsible for all employment decisions at their restaurants, take these matters seriously and are committed to the well-being and fair treatment of all crew members.

Photo Credit: Subway