National Survey of Franchisee Employees Finds Overwhelming Job Satisfaction

Andy Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants (Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr), has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump for Secretary of Labor, and his confirmation hearing is scheduled for the week of January 16th. The nomination has generated considerable interest in the work environment for employees of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s locations, most of which are independently owned and operated by franchisees.

To answer this question, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) today released the results of a national survey conducted by CorCom Inc. of employees of CKE franchisees. 92 percent of surveyed employees agree that Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s is a great place to work, and that management is willing to accommodate schedules outside of work. 90 percent of employees agree that they admire store and company management, that they have learned marketable job skills, and that Carl’s Jr./Hardees provides an opportunity to move up in the workplace. Notably, 93 percent of female employees agree that they feel “safe and respected” in the workplace, including three-quarters of female employees who strongly agree that they feel “safe and respected.”

Percentage of CKE Employees who agree with the following statements:

I have learned valuable, marketable job market skills working here. 90%
I feel safe and respected in this working environment. 92%
I work in a diverse workplace. 92%
Carl’s Jr./ Hardee’s provides…an opportunity to move up in the workplace. 90%
Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s is a great place to work. 92%
I have the opportunity to work as many hours as I’d like. 73%
Management is willing to accommodate my schedule outside of work. 92%
I admire the store management and the management of the company. 90%

Percentage of Female CKE Employees who agree with the following statements:

I have learned valuable, marketable job market skills working here. 91%
I feel safe and respected in this working environment. 93%
I work in a diverse workplace. 96%
Carl’s Jr./ Hardee’s provides…an opportunity to move up in the workplace. 88%
Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s is a great place to work. 93%
I have the opportunity to work as many hours as I’d like. 77%
Management is willing to accommodate my schedule outside of work. 93%
I admire the store management and the management of the company. 91%

METHODOLOGY

A total of 242 telephone interviews were completed with Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s employees from January 6, 2017 to January 9, 2017.  The survey was conducted by CorCom, Inc. and has a margin of error of plus or minus 7%. The full survey and results can be viewed here.

The contact list for this survey was built from a total of 3,503 employee phone numbers that were provided directly from Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s franchisees, representing 305 stores in the South, Midwest and Western United States. Franchisees were provided with the following standard disclaimer to distribute to employees:

A third-party survey research firm, CorCom, Inc., is conducting a survey of quick service restaurant employees to ask questions about their working environment. They have requested a list of employee telephone numbers for this project, without any other identifiable information such as your full name or address. You may be hearing from them within the next week. If you would like to opt-out of this survey, please let YOUR COMPANY CONTACT know as soon as possible.

Employees who responded to this survey were guaranteed confidentiality and all individual responses were kept confidential by CorCom, Inc. and have not made available to either EPI or the franchisees who provided the contact information.

 

Franchisee breakdown of respondents:

 

Carl’s Jr. 16%
Hardee’s 84%

 

Geographic breakdown of respondents: 

Northeast
Midwest 60%
South 20%
West 17%
Not answered 3%