Nation's Restaurant News: Subway Reaches Labor Deal with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has reached a voluntary agreement with Subway in which the franchisor will work with its operators to ensure they pay their workers fair wages, the department said Monday.

The deal was described as the “first of its kind” between the department and a franchisor, in which both the Department of Labor and Subway will work to educate franchisees on wage and hour laws.

The cooperative agreement will increase franchisees’ compliance with labor laws while “helping us to ensure that workers get paid the wages to which they are legally entitled,” division administrator David Weil wrote in a blog on the Department of Labor website announcing the agreement.

“Our work with Subway breaks new ground in how we can work with the regulated community — not only with employers, but with franchisors, suppliers, retailers and others — to channel their influence to ensure that all employers along a supply chain or otherwise linked in commerce play by the rules,” Weil wrote.

In a statement, Subway said: “As a franchisor, we want to do all that we can to build a socially responsible brand. The education and resources provided by the Wage and Hour Division can only benefit the franchise community. When franchisors better understand and follow the law, it helps them maintain loyalty with their staff and decreases the risk of lawsuits.”