Pizza Hut is under fire after a Florida location restricted workers' Hurricane Irma evacuations, in violation of the chain's guidelines (YUM)

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September 11, 2017 6:56 PM

A Pizza Hut in Florida attempted to limit workers' evacuations before Hurricane Irma, and its manager's note has gone viral.

A Pizza Hut in Jacksonville, Florida, is under fire after its attempt to limit workers' evacuations ahead of Hurricane Irma went viral.

In a note that has been circulating online, a Florida location of the pizza chain issued strict rules for employees scheduling work as the state prepared for Hurricane Irma.

"If evacuating, you will have a 24-hour period before storm 'grace period' to not be scheduled," the note reads. "You cannot evacuate Friday for a Tuesday storm event! Failure to show for these shifts, regardless of reason, will be considered a no call/no show and documentation will be issued."

The storm is not expected to arrive in Jacksonville, where this particular Pizza Hut is located, until Tuesday.

The note also says that, in the event of an evacuation, workers "MUST" return within 72 hours.

Hi @pizzahut this is cruel ... @ UHWP #emo##emo##emo#

Many people criticized the note as a restriction that could endanger workers as Floridians attempted to evacuate the area.

Pizza Hut demanding Florida... @ Fight For 15

Truvon Shim went through th... @ Sarah Jaffe

Pizza Hut's awesome Irma po... @ Jennifer Tanko

A Pizza Hut spokesperson told Business Insider that one manager at a single location was responsible for the note, which violated the chain's guidelines. When the franchise group in charge of the location found out about the note, all employees were contacted to emphasize that their health and safety were the top priority, according to the spokesperson.

"We absolutely do not have a policy that dictates when team members can leave or return from a disaster, and the manager who posted this letter did not follow company guidelines," a Pizza Hut spokesperson said in a statement. "We can also confirm that the local franchise operator has addressed this situation with the manager involved."

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