Dunkin' Donuts will advertise – 'This company hires lawful workers only'

May 30, 2006

Dunkin’ Donuts has announced that it will require all of its 5,000 franchises to participate in the Basic Pilot Program, which allows employers to verify a worker’s status using online databases from the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.

Some franchisees are advertising``We follow the law! This company hires lawful workers only. '

The signs have already begun appearing in shops around Boston. The donut shop, based in the Boston area, has 900 stores in Massachusetts. It makes public the company's participation, which began June 1, in the voluntary federal program.

The company said it chose to participate in the program partly because it sometimes receives complaints from customers who assume its workers -- especially those whose first language isn't English -- are in the United States illegally.

The company is letting franchisees determine how to advertise that they participate in the program . The chain has about 5,000 franchise locations in the United States, including about 900 in Massachusetts.

The chain got involved because of ``the growing awareness of the hiring and employment of undocumented workers and the difficulty faced by employers for screening new hires within the confines of the law,' said Stephen Horn , chief legal officer for Dunkin' Brands Inc.