Alberta Labour inspectors find no infractions at Lethbridge Burger King

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Alberta Labour says it found no violations at a Lethbridge Burger King where an earlier public health inspection found evidence of foreign workers sleeping in the restaurant.

Last week, Alberta Health Services ordered the franchise to remove all mattresses and furnishings and no longer let people stay, live or sleep on the premises.

Alberta Health Services says the owner has complied with the order, which also flagged issues around cleanup from a burst pipe and storage of unused equipment.

The provincial labour ministry says it received no formal complaint, but investigated when it learned of the workers’ reported living arrangements.

Spokesman Andrew Hanon says there was a site inspection on Thursday and no occupational health and safety or employment standards issues were found.

He says an employee at the restaurant who was in Canada on a work permit was confirmed to be living elsewhere.

“All Albertans deserve workplaces that are safe, fair and family-friendly and we take all reports of this nature very seriously,” Hanon said in an emailed statement Friday.

“Alberta’s workplace laws apply equally to everyone and any accusation of an employer potentially taking advantage of workers or putting worker safety at risk is completely unacceptable, and will not be tolerated.”

Burger King said in an emailed statement earlier this week that it had spoken with the independent owner of the location and had no new information to provide Friday.

“He has confirmed that the accusations regarding accommodations are not true,” said the company. “However, we will continue to ensure compliance with our high operational standards.”

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version said there was a temporary foreign worker at the Burger King based on information from Alberta Labour.