Eight more restaurant chains have agreed to end a policy that blocks workers from switching jobs within the individual brands, becoming the latest companies to curtail a once-prevalent hiring practice that critics say depressed wages for some of America’s lowest-paid employees. As part of agreements with the Washington State attorney general’s office on Monday, Applebee’s, Church’s Chicken, Five Guys, IHOP, Jamba Juice, Little Caesars, Panera Bread and Sonic all agreed to remove a so-called no-poach clause from their contracts with franchisees. The clauses prohibit a cashier at one Panera location, for example, from working at another Panera location. Such restrictions are not unique to the restaurant industry, but until recently they were ubiquitous, particularly among fast-food chains. That began to change last year, after two prominent economists at Princeton produced a report that focused on how no-poach clauses could lock workers into low-wage jobs.

Source: New York Times August 20, 2018 18:51 UTC