What authority does Checkersrallys have over the hiring and firing of employees at a Checkersrallys franchised restaurant?
Checkersrallys Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
You are solely responsible for all employment decisions for the Franchised Restaurant, including hiring, firing, remuneration, personnel policies, training, benefits, and maintaining supervision and discipline, regardless of whether you received advice from us on any of these subjects. You may not recruit or hire any person who is a management level employee of ours or of any Restaurant operated by us, our Affiliates or another franchisee of ours without obtaining the employer's consent, which consent may be withheld for any reason or no reason.
None of your employees or other personnel will be considered to be employees or personnel of ours. Neither you nor any of your employees or personnel whose compensation you pay may in any way, directly or indirectly, expressly or by implication, be construed to be our employee or personnel for any purpose, most particularly with respect to any mandated or other insurance coverage, tax or contributions, or requirements pertaining to withholdings, levied or fixed by any city, state, provincial, or federal governmental agency. We will not have the power to hire or fire your employees or personnel. You expressly agree, and will never contend otherwise, that our authority under this Agreement to certify certain of your employees or personnel for qualification to perform certain functions for your Franchised Restaurant does not directly or indirectly vest in us the power to hire, fire or control any such employee. You acknowledge and agree, and will never contend otherwise, that you alone will exercise day-to-day control over all operations, activities and elements of your Franchised Restaurant and that under no circumstance shall we do so or be deemed to do so. You further acknowledge and agree, and will never contend otherwise, that the various requirements, restrictions, prohibitions, specifications and procedures of the System which you are required to comply with under this Agreement, whether set forth in Operations Manual or otherwise, do not directly or indirectly constitute, suggest, infer or imply that we control any aspect or element of the day-to-day operations of your Franchised Restaurant, which you alone control, but only constitute standards you must adhere to when exercising your control of the day-to-day operations of your Franchised Restaurant.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD pages 91–92)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Checkersrallys's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the franchisee is primarily responsible for all employment decisions at their restaurant. This includes the authority to hire and fire employees, determine remuneration, establish personnel policies, provide training and benefits, and maintain supervision and discipline. Checkersrallys will not be considered the employer of the franchisee's employees.
This means that as a Checkersrallys franchisee, you have significant control over staffing your restaurant. You are responsible for ensuring that your restaurant is adequately staffed with competent and properly trained employees and that an Operator is always supervising the restaurant. The Operator must complete Checkersrallys's training program to their satisfaction. If the Operator leaves, the franchisee must promptly hire a successor who meets Checkersrallys's approval and completes the training program.
However, there are some limitations. A franchisee cannot recruit or hire any management-level employee of Checkersrallys or any restaurant operated by Checkersrallys, its affiliates, or another franchisee without the employer's consent. This consent can be withheld for any reason. While Checkersrallys may certify certain employees for specific functions, this certification does not give Checkersrallys the power to hire, fire, or control those employees.
Overall, the FDD emphasizes that the franchisee has day-to-day control over all operations, activities, and elements of the franchised restaurant. The requirements and standards of the Checkersrallys system do not imply that Checkersrallys controls the day-to-day operations, but rather that the franchisee must adhere to these standards while exercising their control.