Company: FWRG
Filing Date: 2025-03-11
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001789940-25-000010
Chunk: 14

Company: First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-11
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 14
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 CEO and President, Chris Tomasso, Chief People Officer, Laura Sorensen and Chief Operations Officer, Dan Jones, hosted twenty-four separate 90 minute calls with hourly employees across the country for their fourth annual W.H.Y. Tour – their “We Hear You” listening tour. The purpose of these in-depth sessions is to learn more about the issues most meaningful to our hourly workforce. As a result of these tours, the Company has been able to take swift action on the issues that surfaced, resulting in positive changes for both employees and customers. New menu changes, employee benefits, training, operational practices and more efficient tools have been introduced as a direct result of feedback from each annual tour, reinforcing the Company’s culture of listening to its employees and taking action on the issues that matter the most to them. 

Taking Care of Our Employees

At First Watch, our people are our purpose, which is why we continue to invest in benefits and programs. We operate on a “No Nights Ever” model and work to get our restaurant employees “out the door by four”– which allows our teams to enjoy evenings with their family and friends, and an improved quality of life. This one-shift model provides our employees with a work-life balance that is simply out of reach for most restaurant industry employees. In addition to this flexibility, we support our employees with healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan, tuition reimbursement, family leave and other assistance, including but not limited to:

•Backup childcare and eldercare available for all employees, at all levels

•Our “You First” Emergency Assistance Fund

•A text-based telemedicine platform with no out-of-pocket expenses, for all employees regardless of insurance plan

•Complimentary access to the Calm App (for meditation, relaxation and sleep) for all employees and five of their loved ones

•No-cost high school diploma program

•Discounts on thousands of items from sporting tickets and computers to cars and daycare

•Pet insurance

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In 2020, we created the “You First” Emergency Assistance Fund, which provides financial support to employees and their immediate families during times of significant hardship following the impacts of qualifying disasters. A portion of each kid’s meal sold by our restaurants benefits this program. Since its inception, this fund has provided employees with over with over $1 million dollars in tax-free hardship grants. Most recently the fund was leveraged to assist hundreds of our Southeast-based employees after the hurricanes of 2024 caused flooding and wind damage in Florida, Georgia, North