Restaurant's weird handbook shows employees will have to pay 'severance' if they quit their job

With the growing recession, many employees feel the pressure of a system that values profit over people. As companies continue to tighten their belts and cut costs, workers are often the ones who bear the brunt—working longer hours for less pay and facing endless expectations with minimum resources. On a related note, exploitation in the workplace came to light when u/tmlyle shared a restaurant forcing its employees to accept unrealistic severance fees, leaving netizens completely shocked by the revelation.

The individual shared a picture of the restaurant's rule book, expressing concern about its policies. "I don't know which restaurant is this, but apparently, if you wanna quit or you get fired, whoever's working there has to pay out fees as a severance." According to the employee handbook, workers are required to cover various charges, including a file processing fee, uniform costs, payroll processing fee, training costs, and hiring process expenses, whenever they choose to resign or are fired. The Reddit post sparked a widespread discussion on social media about workplace exploitation, with many people expressing concerns. 

u/spinsterella- wrote, "What state are you in? In Illinois, it is illegal to make employees pay for anything necessary to do their job. This includes everything listed in your post, among other things (like a laptop if they are working from home, etc.)" u/putrid_ad_2256 added, "Print a few of these with a caption that says, 'Do you expect good service or your food not to be spit in by workers that are subjected to this?' with the restaurant's name and plaster it all over the area near the restaurant."

u/new_engineering_5993 commented, "Call Dept of Labor in your state and turn them in. They'll get a nice audit. Paying for your W-2 or payroll processing definitely sounds illegal. My old company was turned in. They lived in our office for 2 weeks. Company fined $273,000.89. Employees got cut off the settlement."

u/hrnigntmare shared, "This can't be real. It's the employers' responsibility to file taxes and provide W-2s. They don't have a choice and they legally cannot put any responsibility on the employee for that in any way, including charging a processing fee. I'm not even gonna ask what state this is because there isn't one where it's okay."

u/ratherb_fishing said, "I thought my former employer was a d**k. This takes it to a new level. I was a server through high school and college and never did they try this crap or anything like it. And yes, processing payroll, hiring, training and W2 are all illegal charges. Employee handbook if signed for and a physical copy is a grey area...(now many moons later, I am the director of multiple teams in an international company and have to CYA all the time) still have the anarchy symbol burned in my left arm..."

In another story emphasizing the increasing exploitation at workplaces, a Walmart employee, Beth McGrath, publicly quit her job through a fiery rant broadcast over the store's announcement system, which she later shared on Facebook. Her resignation video highlighted widespread issues faced by retail workers, including being overworked, underpaid, and mistreated by management and customers. McGrath specifically criticized Walmart's exploitative policies, poor treatment of elderly associates, and the store's toxic environment, calling out specific managers for their behavior. Her bold resignation resonated with thousands online, drawing support and empathy from individuals who echoed her grievances about similar practices in large multinational companies.