Company charges $40 for company gear, forbids workers from wearing it on the job

What would you do if your company made you pay for gear you couldn't wear while you were working? This wouldn't be fair to anyone, right? There are so many hidden costs in life. You may think that you have a handle on it, but then something comes up that you didn't know you would have to pay for. It's just part of life in this day and age- not that we want it to be. There are even costs in starting a new job. You presumably took the job because you needed money, right? Little did you know that you would need a new outfit to wear to work, new shoes, and that you would need to pay for parking too? It's not fair, but it is the way it is. But we can do our best to take it in stride. 

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  • A female restaurant employee looks upset on the job
    via Vitaly Gariev

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • "Wait, you thought you could actually WEAR the uniforms you paid for?"

    I randomly remembered this the other day about a restaurant I worked at a few years ago. Fortunately, I started too late for this to negatively affect me, but my God, people were p ed.
    via PhoenixApok
  • So, fall comes around. Mid September I believe, corporate sends out information that they are going to start ordering winter gear for the staff. Not paid for, of course, but with company colors and logos. Standard stuff: light jackets, hoodies, fleeces. IIRC they went for like $35 or $40 a pop. Not cheap in other words.
    via PhoenixApok
  • Thing was, you had to get your order in by October 1st (Again IIRC) I started after the cutoff date so I was bummed. Lots of people actually ordered. We had a pretty large patio area. Also our to go staff worked in an area with doors opening and closing constantly, and our host area was pretty drafty too. Well, the shipment comes in.
    via PhoenixApok
  • With the shipment comes a note saying to remind employes "Winter gear is NOT an approved part of the uniform. Employees cannot wear winter gear when clocked in or performing job duties. Winter gear is for off duty use only." Store management didn't even know until the note. But no mistake. Corporate tricked people into spending hundreds of
    via PhoenixApok
  • dollars on stuff they couldn't wear on shift. The only 'approved' winter attire was long sleeve shirts under short sleeve work shirts. Also, everyone had already paid for this before the shipment was ordered. And of course, no refunds.
    via PhoenixApok
  • TL,DR: Company tricks employees into paying for branded clothes for advertising purposes, unable to be worn during an actual shift.
    via PhoenixApok

  • But some costs aren't fair at all. Like in this story, where workers at a big company got the opportunity to buy some gear with their company logo. It's a nice idea for your company to provide you with some merch. Maybe you love your job, and you want to rep it wherever you go. You don't mind shelling out a little for it because you want to have something nice to wear that's also office appropriate. It's a fun way to match with your coworkers while also feeling some amount of ownership over your personal style. But that's not what happened here.

    Nobody wants to be disrespected by their jobs, and everyone probably wishes that they could have full autonomy over what they do at work. But unfortunately, that luxury is not afforded to everyone. Sometimes you have to bend to what the higher-ups want, and that can be an incredibly frustrating process. That's what this woman was experiencing at her workplace after paying up to buy some company gear. It seemed like the right thing to do, and she assumed she could wear it to work. She assumed wrong. Keep reading to understand the full scope of the story and see what you think about it. 

  • Commenters gave their takes on this situation, which were pretty bleak.

    Kok-jockey It's a restaurant, theft is pretty much a requirement just to get by. HI, when I was working restaurant jobs I spent maybe $200/month on food. Most days I didn't eat anything at home, would just fill up at work.
    via Kok-jockey
  • PhoenixApok Original Poster's Reply Yup. Some places are cool and have free stuff (This place was Text mex so we had some freebies). Others are just lax enough you can know what to steal without issue
    via PhoenixApok
  • Dinmorerensofa Id never pay for company logo sh EVER
    via Dinmorerensofa
  • PhoenixApok Original Poster's Reply Only time I did was paying for stuff at cost when I worked at a martial arts studio. But that was also my passion and was happy to get our name out there.
    via PhoenixApok
  • A waitress holds a plate walking across a restaurant terrace
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • WholeFudds I had the opposite happen. I worked at a company that provided free hats and shirts with store locations on them. I had a huge collection. A new companywide policy came out that dictated we couldn't wear any legacy clothing. I threw it all out because I had no more use for it. A month later, the company backtracked the decision, but it was too late. I was p ed.
    via WholeFudds
  • PhoenixApok Original Poster's Reply Ouch
    via PhoenixApok
  • HaroldFH That sounds illegal. Surely it must be illegal somehow?
    via HaroldFH
  • PhoenixApok Original Poster's Reply Don't see how if it was never explicitly stated that you COULD wear it on shift.
    via PhoenixApok
  • Key_Cheesecake9926 My work does free "appreciation gifts" every year with the company logo all over everything then they tell everyone they aren't allowed to wear any of it while working. Like we all just want to walk around town as their personal advertising billboards.
    via Key_Cheesecake9926
  • PhoenixApok Original Poster's Reply ONLY place I was okay doing that with was a martial arts studio I taught at. But that was something I was actually passionate about.
    via PhoenixApok
  • Cave Johnson82 America?
    via CaveJohnson82
  • PhoenixApok Original Poster's Reply Yup
    via PhoenixApok
  • KidenStormsoarer Nope, it's either getting worn at work or they're giving me my money back. There is no option 3. If they try to argue, I'll be happy to get the state involved for deceitful business practices and selling under false pretenses. They sold it as work attire, they don't get to turn around and refuse to let you use it as such.
    via KidenStormsoarer
  • PhoenixApok Original Poster's Reply I don't know if the state would care. I wasn't there for the actual ordering but I can see corporate being VERY CAREFUL to not allow anything in writing saying people could wear them at work. I know the managers weren't in on it because they were just as p ed (several of them ordered stuff too)
    via PhoenixApok
  • KidenStormsoarer Even if they didn't state it outright that you could, the implication is there. No reasonable person is going to buy work branded clothing to wear off the clock. The fact that they didn't say anything in advance, but did make sure to say something when it came in, means they knew in advance that people bought them to wear on the clock and still took their money under false pretenses.
    via KidenStormsoarer
  • PhoenixApok Original Poster's Reply I'm not disagreeing with you on the morality grounds. But corporations pay a lot of money to make sure they are 'legally' correct. sometimes.
    via PhoenixApok
  • StrangeCharmQuark Was this New Orleans? Either my SO works at the same place, or this has happened more than once :P
    via StrangeCharmQuark
  • PhoenixApok Original Poster's Reply Enough people have commented on this and another sub I removed it for that I think it's actually a common practice sadly......
    via PhoenixApok
  • steveatari Chargebacks.
    via steveatari
  • PhoenixApok Original Poster's Reply Issue is most of these kinds of things are done as payroll deductions (which is what I THINK they did but I didn't order anything so I'm not 100$)
    via PhoenixApok

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