When the Arizona-based owners of two dozen Burger Kings was given the “Franchisee of the Year” award from the folks at BK HQ for his restaurants’ high marks on service and cleanliness, they could have just kept the new Corvette and Rolex watch they received for the honor. Instead, the owners turned those prizes into cash that they then paid out to more than 100 employees.

“The award needed to go to the people who got us here. It was the right thing to do,” one co-owner explains to Phoenix’s 3TV. “We’re all better when we have people who work for us long term.”

In addition to selling the ‘Vette and the Rolex, the owners say they chipped in some of their own money to the $120,000 bonus pool. Some longtime employees were rewarded with bonuses as high as $5,000.

“I just couldn’t believe it. I was in shock,” one 15-year BK vet tells 3TV. “It was almost an entire month’s worth of pay for me. They made us all feel appreciated.”

One employee who worked his way up from fry cook to supervisor within the franchise, sums up his work ethic as, “I don’t see my job as ‘Come in and make hamburgers.’ I see my job as coming to work with the people.”

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