Lettuce Entertain You cares greatly about the health and safety of its employees and guests. In the last few weeks, we have closely monitored developments in the current COVID-19 outbreak and have, as a company, initiated enhanced protocols to reduce opportunities for the spread of this virus. Our actions have foWe are now facing a situation in which our actions can make a difference, not only to the health and safety of our employees and guests but also to our communities. As part of our ongoing effort to slow the community transmission of COVID-19, and in light of rapidly emerging developments in the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois, LEYE will temporarily close all of its Illinois locations, effective March 16, 2020, until at least March 30th. Our last day of service will be today, March 15, 2020. We will reevaluate our options based upon guidance and direction from health and government officials. In the meantime, we strongly encourage everyone to do their part by continuing to follow CDC guidelines, including the practice of social distancing, to combat community transmission.
We care deeply about our teams and are working on ways that we can support Leye employees and their families under these very unique circumstances. Toward that end, we will pay all LEYE employees for any scheduled shifts that are canceled due to Illinois restaurant closings through March 18, 2020. Canceled shift hours will be paid at each employee’s scheduled rate of pay or minimum wage, whichever is higher. We are working quickly to come up with a solution for pay beyond Wednesday. Rest assured that we are coming up with a solution that will be in the best interest of our employees. Please await further information regarding this in the next 24 hours.
We will continue to share information as the situation develops and additional decisions are made.