Last year I worked for a convenience store company in the Midwest. When I was hired, a listed benefit for full-time employees was a program called “families helping families.” Coworkers were encouraged to donate a portion of their monthly paycheck to an optional company charity to help employees in times of need. I thought it was a bit odd that a charity was sold as a benefit, but it seemed a nice enough idea, so I didn’t think much of it.
Additionally, the company had a policy that basically said employees can’t take bribes or anything else from customers to influence their judgement. This seemed pretty standard and at the time didn’t seem that odd.
For anyone who’s worked at a convenience store/ gas station, you’ll know that the vast majority of customers tend to be in a bad mood or at best neutral, positivity is very rare. One evening towards the end of a 10-hour shift (at about 9pm) a kind older man comes in and asks to prepay $60 on a gas pump. He pays with a $100 bill, which I check to make sure isn’t fraudulent and I return his $40 in change in 2 twenties. On this night 3 people including me are working. It’s me, a newer coworker I’m training on the registers, and our manager. The manager is in the back cooking food, so it’s just me and the new coworker up front.
Instead of a tip box, the company has a donation box for “families helping families.” When a customer doesn’t want their change or wants to donate, the money goes in that box. The kind customer on this night tells my coworker and I, “Thanks for everything you do. Split the change between you two.” And hands us both a $20 bill. Again, the majority of customers at this store rarely are in a positive mood, so I’m delighted and thank him multiple times as he leaves to pump his gas.
Shortly after the customer leaves, the manager comes up front and sees my coworker and I chatting and holding a $20 bill. She instantly looks upset. She asks us why we’re waving money around and we tell her about the kind, generous customer. She tells us we’re not allowed to take tips, that we can get fired if we don’t put the money in the company donation bin. My good mood is instantly ruined. I tell myself it’s going to a good cause, but I’m still bummed about loosing almost 2 hours of extra wages from a generous customer.
Flash forward to a couple weeks later, when I’m talking to an assistant manager who mentions that the company counts donations to “families helping families” as tax-exempt and that they get a tax write off for these donations.
Overall, the company wasn’t horrible. They gave good bonus checks and paid better than similar positions in the area, but this incident rubbed me the wrong way.
Disclaimer: I don’t know how tax laws work and I don’t know how much of a tax write-off the company gets from these donations, all my knowledge on this matter came from talking with an assistant manager who had just attended a corporate meeting. Also, sorry if I come off as an asshole for not wanting my tips to go to charity. As a base-level employee, every dollar counts, and honestly it wasn’t so much the money as the idea of forcing employees to give up tips. I’m open to hearing your opinions on this in the comments.
TL;DR
Kind customer gives coworker and me $20 tip each, manager gets upset and forced us to put money into donation bin that goes to company benefit/ maybe tax write-off.