Facebook | Barberitos Southwestern Grille & Cantina (Macon Riverside, GA)

Entire Staff Quits At Burrito Restaurant Citing Concerns About Pay And Hours

Published September 17, 2021

While it's not the only field in which you'll hear frustrations about a mounting labor shortage, it's clear that the restaurant industry is facing quite the reckoning at the moment.

Throughout the summer, diners across the country started to come across signs attached to fast food restaurants letting the public know that the entire staff has quit en masse.

That phenomenon hasn't exactly slowed down in the months since and the reasons behind these walkouts tend to follow similar themes. When employees bother to explain why they all left, we can generally expect them to have an issue with their pay, their workload, how the management treats them, or all of the above.

And while the sign left on one Georgia burrito franchise proved to be no exception, it seems the management is now disputing its claims.

While a resident in Macon, Georgia was passing by the Barberitos restaurant on New Street, they came across this sign on the door.

Facebook | Katelyn Mathews

As we can see, those working there seemed to have quite a few grievances with the place, including low pay, what they described as a "lack of appreciation," and seemingly non-stop work for the past month.

But while that's usually as far as these notes go, the mass exodus doesn't seem like a decision these workers made lightly. After all, they made a point of telling their customers how much they loved them.

Based on the state the store was reportedly left in when the passer-by found that note, however, that love didn't extend to the restaurant itself.

Facebook | Barberitos Southwestern Grille & Cantina (Macon Riverside, GA)

In a Facebook post that mirrored the sign's discovery, it was revealed that the door was open when this person discovered the note.

Without it, they would have assumed the place was robbed.

And after the note started to go viral, a representative from the Barberitos chain made a statement disputing the claims written on it.

Facebook | Barberitos Southwestern Grille & Cantina (Macon Riverside, GA)

As spokesperson Rob Kremer told WGXA, "Unfortunately, a local restaurateur uniformly hired away six of our employees at the same time."

He also said that the reports of staff being forced to work seven days straight were "simply not true," but didn't elaborate on this point.

In the days since the sign first appeared, it has since been taken down and replaced with a notice about the restaurant's updated hours and a "now hiring" sign.

Facebook | Barberitos Southwestern Grille & Cantina (Macon Riverside, GA)

These signs will likely be temporary as Kremer is expecting the Macon location to resume normal business hours as soon as next week.

In his words, "While we are saddened whenever an employee leaves the Barberitos family, we understand that the marketplace has changed and thank them for their service."

h/t: WGXA

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