Chick-fil-A Employee Refuses to Buy “Overpriced” Uniform Jacket, Freezes While Working Outside

If you've ever taken a trip through the Chick-fil-A drive-thru, then there's a good chance you've probably seen one of the chain's employees rocking the infamous "pods" during inclement weather, bopping up and down as if they were one of Gru's minions as they tapped your order into the tablets in their hands.

You may have also seen the same Chick-fil-A employees rocking store-branded gear while they're outside and taking customers' orders, rain or shine. But did you know that many employees have complained about having to cover the cost of these additional items out of their own pocket?

There have been several complaints lodged by workers of the popular fast food chain about this practice, like this one Redditor with a now-deleted account who went viral on the site's r/antiwork sub.

In their trending post, they penned: "Chick-fil-A requires that we buy their overpriced jackets if we want to avoid freezing on cold days outside apparently."

And it appears that they aren't the only person who seemed either miffed or reluctant to fork over the cash for outerwear that would allow them to perform their job duties without freezing their fingers off due to being exposed to the elements.

A TikToker who goes by DJ (@coolkid._3) uploaded a viral clip highlighting their unwillingness to pay more money for an official outdoor work uniform.

Their viral video garnered over 10.3 million views and it shows DJ standing on what appears to be a sidewalk rocking their Chick-fil-A polo as they stand there, shivering as they hold a tablet in their hands.

DJ writes in a text overlay of the video: "Me freezing my ahh off outside at work bc I refused to spend $60 for a uniform work jacket."

He adds in a caption for the post that management had him stay outside for several hours as well.

"They left me outside for 3hrs yesterday… ts was trifling," DJ wrote.

Many commenters who saw his video questioned why a company would require its workers to be outside while performing their duties, but not provide them with the clothing necessary for them to do so, especially if there are uniform requirements.

According to Chick-fil-A's apparel website, the chain offers a selection of official outerwear items employees are allowed to wear while their take customer orders. Pullovers start at $29, while Chick-fil-A's most expensive coat for men, the Okemos Parka, costs $161.50.

There are other options as well, like the $70 Tanasbourne Rain Parka, and the Bluemound Softshell jacket that sells for $32.50.

So what's a Chick-fil-A employee to do if they don't want to purchase any of the chain's official outerwear? According to one commenter who responded to the aforementioned Reddit post, stores were able to make some concessions.

One person who said they were a Chick-fil-A employee penned that the store usually allowed workers to simply wear black or red jackets as long as they were "plain" and didn't have any other branding on them.

They also didn't think it was fair to force people to work outside if they weren't going to provide employees with branded clothing, highlighting that not everyone can afford the high-priced outerwear the chain shills: "I also work at chikfila, most of the time if people don’t wanna splurge on the jackets they allow us to wear red/black plain jackets as long as we don’t have anything on them. If they can’t provide them for you on your shift, then you shouldn’t have to go outside. Not everyone can afford those scratchy things"

Another responded to this comment, stating that folks would commonly "borrow" one when working outside: "Exactly I used to work for Chick-fil-A over 20+ years ago and that would be the standard for employees to either purchase or borrow one"

Numerous folks who replied to DJ's post echoed the sentiments of the Redditor's post as well: "Companies who require you to be outside should provide you with a jacket"

DJ also said that management at this Chick-fil-A location seemed adamant he rep all of the restaurant's gear, stating that he wasn't allowed to wear anything other than branded Chick-fil-A merchandise: "They don’t let you wear a different jacket?" one person wrote, to which he responded: "NO BROOO"

Judging by a remark made by another TikToker in response to DJ's post, it would seem that there are other food service businesses who are a bit more considerate of their employees when it comes to providing them with outerwear: "dutch bros has 10 jackets always in bathroom if u wanna wear them but u can wear ur own"

However, another Chick-fil-A employee in the comments section of his video said that they received all of their clothing free of charge: "Ours are what kind of cfa you workin' at bro"

And there was someone else who suggested that he hit up worker's rights in his state to ensure that he wasn't being asked to pay for something the company he works for should be providing: "better check with state regulations a company can’t stop you from warming up. if youre required uniforms they pay"