I work at a popular international fast food chain, my store is owned by a franchise. So am unsure if what I'm sharing is a corporate or franchise policy.
We just got purchased by a new franchise owner about a year or two ago. They've been making lots of changes. Lately they've installed many cameras and microphones all in the restaurant. They also have new software in the headsets that are trained to flag certain keywords and phrases and send that data directly to the district manager.
We used to get store checks by a real person, and if they hit a sister store, that manager would usually text surrounding stores a heads-up so we could speed clean and get a good score. Good scores affect manager bonuses, and they were quite anal on those tests. If one thing was amiss it was points off.
Now it's a virtual audit, where we will be unaware that we are being watched and recorded, and receive a private grade. They've taken to making a Wall of Shame, where screenshots of clips of the audit where employees didn't follow rules will be posted. Employees on their phones, with shirts not tucked in, not wearing belts, or using the wrong tongs etc. get put on blast for all to see.
So my GM decided that since we were doing poorly on the new virtual audits he would print out a copy of the employee handbook and had everyone sign it. He didn't write the book, it's been a thing for several years.
I read it, and it was mostly sane. Wear your uniform properly. Don't ignore customers so you can text. Show up on time. Don't call out via text message. Stuff like that. Then I got to a very questionable section where it stated, “If you quit or are terminated, you must return your uniform. Failure to return uniform will result in your final check being witheld.”
I immediately pointed out to my GM, who also happens to be a good friend of mine so don't come at me with the immediate “you should have sued!!” b.s., that this was illegal. You cannot withold pay for hours worked just because someone didn't give the uniform back.
He says “I've literally never done that. I don't even ask for them back.” I said I understand that but if someone ever reads that who is a bigger asshole than I, the franchise could get in massive legal trouble. He googled it to confirm and yep. Super illegal.
He blacked out that section before anyone signed it.
But it got me thinking. All of it. The wall of shame, the excessive surveillance that was rather unnecessary. After all, we had functioned just fine without the micromanagement so far. I wonder what they're so scared of.