Tri City Foods did not grant sick leave to 2,473 employees of its Burger King restaurants. Faris Hadziq/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesChicago's largest labor law violation was dealt to the owner of 40 Burger Kings.After denying workers proper sick leave, Tri City Foods must now pay $458,931 to their workers, according to the mayor.It must also pay Chicago $100,000.Check out more stories from Insider's business page.The city's largest labor-law violation was paid by a company with 40 Burger King restaurants in Chicago.Tri City Foods, a holding company, claims it is Burger King’s second-largest franchisor. It has six restaurants in the Midwest. According to Lori Lightfoot, Chicago Mayor, the company had to pay a $100,000 penalty to Chicago and $458,931 to workers who were denied sick leave. Block Club Chicago reported the news first.A July 2017 law requires that all Chicago employers offer employees one hour of guaranteed sick leave.Tri City Foods did not provide enough sick leave for 2,473 employees between July 2017 to November 2020, Chicago's Office of Labor Standards found in an investigation. The OLS stated that the investigation was initiated by a 311 complaint.Continue reading: DoorDash pushes further into the ghost-kitchen market with a new, 'risk-free model for restaurantsLightfoot stated that "When you're paid minimum wage, and you worry about your job, and you live from paycheck to paycheck," during a Thursday press conference.She continued, "And this is an important deal." "And because this person took the initiative, it means that not only is the person covered but also the workers. It's almost five hundred thousand dollars."After a settlement was reached between the city and Tri City Foods, the mayor's office stated that payments would be made to Tri City Foods employees in the coming months.Continue the storyTri City Foods could not be reached immediately for comment.Mondelez was also fined a huge amountThe mayor's office announced Thursday that Mondelez, a Chicago-based food & drink company, had to pay $95,217 in restitution for failing to provide paid sick leaves to 465 employees between July 2017 and early 2020. This was in restitution for the employees.Mondelez, which is the owner of Cadbury, Oreo and Milka brands, stated to the OLS that it tried to negotiate in good faith with the union representing these workers when the local labor contract expired."The City chose to seek a lower-than-maximum fine in this case because Mondelez's plausible defence, full cooperation with investigation and immediate action to rectify the violation," said the mayor's office.The mayor's office stated that Mondelez had rectified the violations by 2020. This means that proper sick leave was available during the pandemic. According to the mayor's office, payment is in progress and almost complete for covered employees.Insider was told by a Mondelez spokesperson that the company's collective bargaining agreements had expired with a local union and that the unilateral implementation of local paid leave could have been in violation of the National Labor Relations Act."The City and Company came to a mutual understanding to resolve the dispute about paid sick leaves. The City also acknowledged that the Union and the Company had to continue to bargain over sick leave." A spokesperson for Mondelez stated that Mondelez made "immediate" corrections after the settlement.Business Insider has the original article.
