Chick-fil-A franchise owner Joel Benson had a rather unconventional way of recruiting what he called “volunteers” to work at the new Drive-Thru Express portion of his restaurant in Hendersonville, North Carolina: he wanted to pay them in food.

What happened: A since deleted Meta Platforms Inc META Facebook Post on Chick-fil-A’s corporate page said, “We’re looking for volunteers for our new drive-thru express! Earn 5 free entrees per shift (1 hour) worked. Send us a message for more information.”

If you’re interested, some of Chick-fil-A’s entrees include a choice of chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, grilled nuggets, and the cool wrap (chicken wrap), though the place didn’t specify if any of the deluxe Items on the menu to do this would be provided to volunteers.

In theory, one person could support a family of five with just an hour’s work if they made that deal.

The restaurant has since restricted who can reply to its Facebook posts as the search for volunteers drew some backlash.

“Glad to see you deleted the highly illegal volunteer post, pay workers money not chicken,” said one user.

“Can I volunteer to own the store and then fire any clown who came up with an idea for volunteering?” another user posted.

The funniest comment, however, came from one user who wrote, “I just renegotiated my apartment lease extension to include waffle fries and chicken nuggets as valid payment for my rent – will be in touch soon.”

Jokes aside, the post was short-lived as the restaurant deleted it the same day it was posted.

A spokesman for Chick-fil-A said Business Insider that its corporate headquarters did not endorse the program, saying: “Most of the restaurants are privately owned and operated by individuals and it was a program at a privately owned restaurant.

Photo: rblfmr via Shutterstock