The Denver-based company is hoping that the benefits, previously offered to full-time employees, will encourage workers to build their careers and help recruit high school and college students, who are the company’s “target demographic” for its entry-level jobs, ABC News reports.
This move comes at a time when U.S. fast food chains face escalating pressure to improve working conditions and increase wages.
A spokeswoman for Chipotle confirmed the policy information to ABC News on Tuesday. December 2014 statistics report that Chipotle employs about 53,000 people, including about 48,500 hourly employees.
“It’s an incredible statement by our leadership about how much we want to invest in the best people we have and to keep them with us,” JD Cummings, a Chipotle recruitment strategy manager said at a conference last week, ABC News reports.
The policy change was announced by Chipotle executives at a human resources convention in Dallas last week, CNN reports, per Restaurant News.
Cummings says its the goal of the company to attract qualified workers and give them better chances for advancement, with the hopes that they will become managers and franchise owners.
“You’ve got to promise them you’re going to develop them,” he said. “You’ve got to promise them a future that if they are dedicated and good and strong for the company, you are going to reward them.”
Chipotle spokeswoman Danielle Winslow says the Denver-based chain will reimburse 90 percent of tuition, books, and fees up to the limit of $5,250 per year imposed by the IRS, USA Today reports.
Crew cashier and takeout specialists will need to work for a year in order to be eligible for the tuition benefits. All hourly managers and salaried employees won’t have a waiting time period.
Several other chains are offering similar benefits as a way to improve working conditions.
In April, Starbucks announced that it was doubling its free tuition plan for workers so that a full four years of college are covered instead of two.
As part of a partnership with Arizona State University, the program offers eligible full-time and part-time employees tuition coverage for a four-year bachelor’s degree through the university’s online degree program.
Starbucks says it plans to invest up to $250 million or more with the hopes of helping at least 25,000 employees graduate by 2025, USA Today reports.
