Mexican food retailer Chipotle has improved its employee benefits offering to award 71,000 US-based employees cash and stock bonuses, as well as enhancing its paid parental leave policy.
The changes, which the organisation is rolling out to employees, have been designed to help support and advance employees' professional and personal lives.
Its hourly paid and salaried restaurant staff will receive a one-off cash bonus of up to $1,000 (£710.71), and employees based in other functions will receive a one-off stock grant.
The organisation’s parental leave benefit has also been expanded to apply to hourly paid managers, who were not previously eligible for the benefit. Chipotle has also extended the amount of paid parental leave that salaried staff can take off.
Chipotle will also implement more training programmes for employees, including a formalised classroom programme that will focus on topics related to operational excellence and leadership, as well as introduce life insurance and short-term disability insurance for hourly paid restaurant managers.
The new employee benefits will sit alongside Chipotle’s existing benefits package. This includes bi-annual merit increases for hourly paid employees, paid holiday days and sick time, stock awards for restaurant managers, up to $5,250 (£3731.23) for tuition reimbursement and discounted educational courses and degrees.
Steve Ells, founder, chairman and chief executive officer at Chipotle, said: “We have always been proud of our ability to attract and retain top talent who share our passion for cooking delicious food by hand and creating an extraordinary guest experience. We’re giving back to these committed, motivated, and hardworking team members who have made Chipotle what it is today.
“We have always been committed to making Chipotle a great place to work with excellent compensation and benefits. With these expanded offerings, we’re thanking our employees for their hard work and dedication to our [organisation].”
