Chick-Fil-A location offers full time schedule while working only three days a week

A Florida Chick-Fil-A owner has introduced a unique scheduling option for his employees: a full-time schedule and benefits while working only a 3-day week. 

Employees who have opted into the 3-day work week at Justin Lindsey’s Miami restaurant have raved about their new schedule, and more employees are lining up to participate.

Lindsey came up with the idea after his restaurant won multiple awards for high profits and great sales numbers. “I realized, I’m asking a ton of these folks,” he told QSR. “They’re literally working 70 hours a week, week in and week out.” Lindsey said he told himself, “Honestly, I can do better.”

Lindsey told QSR he thought through many aspects of an employee’s experience to come up with the new schedule.

“I thought, how can I get them more time?” he said. “How can I get them an opportunity to know their schedule in perpetuity, … and they could build their lives, and their vacations, and their plans, and their child care and their school and all of those things around that?”

Under the 3-day schedule, employees are split into two groups. One group works on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for two weeks, and then that same group switches to Thursday, Friday and Saturday for two weeks.

The days are 13 to 14 hours long, but are enough to make up a full-time work schedule and qualify for benefits.

Lindsey reports impressive results after implementing the change in scheduling has yielded positive results for his business. So far, 40 out of his 160 employees have opted into the 3-day schedule, with more signing up as they hear of the advantages it offers employees who have already begun a 3-day work week.

His store received a record number of job applications after the change,  with over 400 resumes coming in just one week after an Indeed posting advertised the option. 

“I’m truly, from the bottom of my heart, I’m doing this because I think it’s the right thing to do for you and for your families and for your school and for whatever that might be,” Lindsey told his employees. “That is the reason behind doing this. Because, honestly, it would probably be a whole lot easier to just do things the way we’ve always done them.”