Vancouver Island A&W owner sending employees on all-expenses-paid vacations

Best boss ever? The owner of an A&W in Ladysmith B.C. has rewarded his employees with a trip to anywhere they would like to go in the world.

Victoria — The owner of a Vancouver Island fast-food franchise might be the region's strongest contender for 2020 Boss of the Year.

Three employees at an A&W outside of Ladysmith have a combined 36 years of experience at the restaurant.

Katherine Aleck has been with the A&W for 14 years, Kelly Frenchy has been there 12 years, and Muriel Jack has been at the restaurant for more than 10 years.

All three have only left Canada once before, they tell CTV News.

Jason Kelland, who owns the franchise with his wife, wants to change that.

"We're coming up on 10 years [of owning the franchise]," Kelland said. "I realized we had three employees that had been with us since the get-go and I realized how rare that was in this industry."

So Kelland offered the three veteran staff members all-expenses-paid vacations anywhere they wanted to go.

Jack is going to Mexico on Sunday. Frenchy is thinking of taking his wife and doing the same. Aleck thinks maybe an Alaskan cruise is the trip for her.

"I want to give them opportunities that they potentially would never have had in life before," Kelland said. "We truly cannot be any luckier and more appreciative of staff that work their butts off and keep this place going on a day-to-day basis."