Show us your pearly whites — it’s company policy.
Starting on August 14, In-N-Out Burger will implement a new policy across its locations in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Nevada and Utah prohibiting employees from wearing masks unless they have a valid medical note. The company’s reasoning, per a memo leaked on social media, is that it wants to highlight the “importance of customer service” and “show Associates’ smiles” as well as “other facial features.”
In-N-Out did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur’s request for comment.
The policy specifies that only employees with medical exemptions — proven by a “valid medical note” — will be allowed to wear company-provided N95 masks. The doctor’s note must include the diagnosis, the reason for the exemption and, “if applicable,” the estimated duration of the condition.
Employees who fail to adhere to the new mask guidelines might face disciplinary action including termination based on the severity and frequency of the violations.
In-N-Out Burger added that it will continually assess and adjust the policy to ensure compliance with local health guidelines. It will also review and approve requests for exemptions “where appropriate” based on medical, religious and other protected reasons related to grooming guidelines.
The California-based chain has more than 300 locations in seven states. The only states exempt from the new policy are Oregon and California (which have laws preventing employers from banning masks). However, employees in those states will still have to wear company-approved masks.
Businesses like In-N-Out burger are banning staff from wearing masks (unless they provide a medical note) pic.twitter.com/OchZl5STIH
— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) July 14, 2023
The response on social media has been less than friendly. “I love their burgers but I will not continue to support In-N-Out Burger after this reprehensible behavior,” one user tweeted. “This seems like the opposite of freedom, just saying,” another user wrote. Some went as far as to call the policy “evil.”
Related: 3 McDonald’s Franchisees to Pay Thousands in Fines for Child Labor Law Violations
Since the memo leaked, the company’s social media pages have been flooded with comments from users criticizing the policy. “Talking about ‘cleanliness’ and ‘values’ while preventing your employees from wearing protective gear during an ongoing pandemic is hypocrisy at its finest,” one user commented on In-N-Out’s most recent Instagram post.
Screenshots from In-N-Out’s Instagram post.
This isn’t the first time In-N-Out has faced scrutiny related to pandemic health guidelines. In 2021, one of its San Francisco locations had to temporarily close after allowing a customer to dine in without verifying their vaccination status. In response to the incident, the company’s chief legal officer criticized the local health guidelines, stating that In-N-Out is not willing to act as the “vaccination police for any government,” per The New York Times.