Pizza Hut manager threatens employees over evacuating during Hurricane Irma

A Jacksonville Pizza Hut manager wrote a memo saying employees who needed to evacuate would get only a 24-hour "grace period" before. Photo / AP

The manager of a Pizza Hut in Jacksonville appeared to threaten its employees if they chose to evacuate for longer than 72 hours to escape Hurricane Irma.

The memo went viral with many people on social media criticizing the fast-food chain for appearing to punish its for skipping shifts because of the storm.

It said employees must return within 72 hours of evacuating and they could not evacuate Friday for a Tuesday storm, according to Daily Mail.

On Monday, Jacksonville was flooded by several feet in certain parts of the Florida city.

The manager wrote workers at the Jacksonville restaurant have a "responsibility and commitment" to the community, and that employees who needed to evacuate would get only a 24-hour "grace period" before the storm.

Photo / Twitter

It also said if an employee skipped their shift, there would be documentation on their record showing they were a no-show.

As the Washington Post notes, often times fast-food workers must chose between their own safety and potential lost wages when evacuating.

Because of this Pizza Hut received backlash on social media for appearing to threaten its low-wage employees.

One user tweeted: "This is absolutely disgusting. I don't care is this is w a national or regional decision you need to fix this!!"

Another quipped: "wow @pizzahut how can you care so little about your employees? disgusting."

Jacksonville authorities began telling people in parts of the city to evacuate on Friday.

On its website, Pizza Hut said in a statement: "We are uncompromising in our commitment to the safety and well-being of our team members. All locations in the path of Irma are closed and will remain closed until local authorities deem the area safe."

"We absolutely do not have a policy that dictates when team members can leave or return from a disaster, and the manager who posted this letter did not follow company guidelines.

"We can also confirm that the local franchise operator has addressed this situation with the manager involved."