In-N-Out Can’t Stop Workers From Wearing ‘Fight for $15’ Pins

In-N-Out was just admonished by the National Labor Relations Board over the Fight for $15, but it’s got nothing to do with how they pay their employees.

The California-based burger chain has been ordered ”to stop enforcing a rule preventing workers from wearing buttons or insignia that relate to wages, hours, employment conditions or labor issues,” Nation’s Restaurant News reports.

The ruling centers around one of the company’s Austin stores, says Bloomberg BNA, where, according to court documents, workers were told by management to take off the ‘Fight for $15’ pins they were wearing.

In-N-Out employee handbooks do contain a provision barring employees from wearing “any type of pin or stickers” on their uniform; however, the ruling pointed out that the company requires workers to wear “Merry Christmas” pins during the holiday season that are considerably larger in size than the Fight for $15 pins.

The administrative law judge who presided over the case has ordered In-N-Out to remove that rule from its employee handbooks, and to notify employees that it has done so.

The burger chain has consistently been praised for paying fair wages, especially in comparison to many of its fast-food brethren; according to In-N-Out’s website, all employees are currently paid a minimum of $11 an hour. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• NLRB Ruling Says In-N-Out Can’t Stop Fight for $15 Pins [NRN]
• At McDonald's Shareholder Meeting, Critics Compare Fight for $15 Protesters to 'Barbarians' [E]
• How Minimum Wage Hikes Could Affect Fast Food Franchisees [E]