Taco Bell announced Saturday that it is preparing its chains to operate as a drive-thru and delivery-only restaurants due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).
In a statement by Taco Bell CEO Mark King, he said in a letter that their 7,200 managers are “well-trained” and “prepared” to handle the changes should they need to temporary close dining rooms.
Here is the letter on the Taco Bell Website issued March 14:
To Our Taco Bell Fans,
Like most of you, I’ve been reading the news about the spread of coronavirus and I am convinced that Taco Bell, our franchisees and team members have an obligation to do something to help stop this from spreading. It’s the right thing to do, but outside of increased cleaning in the restaurants like we’ve been doing, how can we make a larger impact?
As regions of the U.S. begin to mandate public closures and self-quarantine, we are equipping our restaurants to serve our guests via drive-thru and delivery only where necessary. Should we need to temporarily close our dining rooms, we would be limiting millions of guest interactions and further enabling social distancing. We are going to redefine what it means to be a social brand during this coronavirus pandemic, while at the same time keeping our team members safe, and continuing to provide our fans with the delicious Taco Bell food they love.
We aim to be the safest place to eat AND the safest place to work. Our 7,200 managers are well-trained and prepared, and we’re going back to them to revisit our existing industry-leading training and operating procedures. Their personal well-being, safe food preparation, restaurant cleanliness and illness policies are our top priorities and are best practices from our operators from around the globe.
Because our people are the heart of our organization, and we understand the impact these actions can have, we’re amending our sick policy at our company-owned U.S. restaurants to better accommodate our teams while ensuring no one works who is sick. We’ll be paying employees who are required to stay at home, or who work at a restaurant that is closed, for their scheduled or regularly scheduled hours during their time away from work. We’re actively working with our franchise partners to encourage a similar approach.
Our purpose—to feed people’s lives with unexpected good—guides us in times like these, and we are thankful for your support. You can count on us to keep you informed as new information becomes available.
Mark King
CEO, Taco Bell Corp.
1 comment
I’m happy to hear that they’re implementing sick leave for their employees ASAP. Personally I’m planning to avoid eating at any restaurant that doesn’t provide paid sick leave – partly to support workers, and partly to avoid eating food that was prepared by someone who came to work sick!
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