Man Blasts Chick-fil-A for Forcing Employees to Purchase Branded Coats to Work Outside

TikToker Bavid Doughy (@baviddoughy) is going viral on the popular video-sharing application after uploading his rant response to a fellow user's post on how they were left shivering in the cold while working outdoors at a Chick-fil-A drive-thru.

In his video, Bavid slammed the chain's practice of expecting employees to wear only Chick-fil-A branded clothing that they have to pay for while on shift while questioning why folks can't just rock similar-looking clothing items on their own and not pay the premiums associated with the branded gear.

Commenters seemed divided on the issue: some said that they've visited locations where employees were clearly wearing coats and sweaters that weren't packing Chick-fil-A logos, while others said that they've worked in spots that demand workers only wear official CFA items.

"Can we talk about the Chick-fil-A employee who had to stand outside in the freezing cold without a jacket? Because he wasn't allowed to wear his own. He has to wear the Chick-fil-A one, that costs $60," Bavid says, after showing a screen capture of a red Chick-fil-A jacket on the screen on his video.

Bavid continued, "And it's one thing to make your employees pay for their own uniforms, but to make them pay full price. No employee discount or anything is kind of crazy. $53 for this? Really?" he says, continuing to sound off on the same red jacket.

"And it's even worse when you find out the average team member pay is $13.89 an hour," he says, showing what appears to be an online resource in the video that aggregates Chick-fil-A employee hourly wages.

"And the most ironic part about this jacket for me is the fact that there's barely any Chick-fil-A branding on it. Like this is straight from their retail store, maybe there's an employee store but I don't see any branding. And you're probably thinking well there's probably something on the back you're not showing."

Bavid then highlights another image from the red jacket's product page, which shows off the back of the Chick-fil-A jacket. It's devoid of any branding as the TikToker states: "There's nothing on the back either just that little patch on the side arm. This is just a red coat, right?"

Bavid went on to say that he scoured Chick-fil-A's product store to discover that there wasn't a heck of a whole lot of items that carried Chick-fil-A branding: "In fact, the only item I found with actual Chick-fil-A branding is the rain poncho. And if that rain poncho isn't your style well you can pick up this rain parka for $70."

But there's another piece of outerwear that looked toastier than the other options: "And if you want to feel extra warm well you can drop half your paycheck on this bad boy." His video transitions to showing a charcoal-colored Okemos Parka that retails for $161.50.

"Heaven forbid this manager loses a customer because they drove up to a Chick-fil-A drive-thru and when they got to the window they saw one of the employees wearing a red coat, but it wasn't the Chick-fil-A red coat and they drove away, fast."

Bavid further highlighted how bizarre he thought the dress code for the chicken sandwich fast food retailer was with a caption for the video, which reads: "I thought they where into God and stuff ..."

Commenters had a litany of different responses to Bavid's commentary of the Chick-fil-A employee's post, which one person stating that this strict adherence to dress protocols must be contingent upon the locations folks work at.

One person wrote that they've been to Chick-fil-A stores where employees have regularly rocked non-CFA gear during their shifts: "This policy must be applied by who owns the store because I see employees at stores in my area wearing regular jackets."

However there was another person who left a remark that seemed to be more in line with Bavid's criticism of the chain and that they, too, were expected to wear Chick-fil-A branded clothing items while they were on shift.

What's more is that if employees agree to purchasing these items, the TikToker stated that they aren't expected to pay for them upfront, but that the merchandise is instead deducted from their paycheck: "I used to work at chickfila & it gets deducted out of your paycheck. if you work upfront & put outside you have to wear their jacket or be sent home."

Someone else said that they receive free swag from their own place of employment, which they find strange as they work in a remote capacity: "My company is sending everyone jackets. And it’s office and remote work. Get on board, CFA."

And while there were some commenters who questioned the legality of a business charging employees for uniforms, it would seem that the legalities surrounding employees being charged for workplace attire is contingent upon the state one is employed in.

In some parts of the country, it isn't legal at all. In others: if the item features a company's branding on it, then employees can't be charged for it, and in others, companies can certainly charge workers for uniforms, but said worker must still be making minimum wage when the deduction for that item is taken out of their paycheck.