What happens if an employee is caught at Taco Bell while off-duty?
Is it true that the chain has rules about its hats? And when does the
restaurant actually close? Answers to these questions and more are coming up shortly!
If Taco Bell employees use their discount to buy food,
they have to stay at the restaurant during their lunch break.
Employees are actually free to leave during their lunch if they consume
food they've gotten elsewhere, but if they happen to stock up on a
few burritos and nacho fries from their own franchise, they must consume them in-store.
According to Inc., the company's logic is that it doesn't want its servers
using their employee discounts to buy food for others. Making their employees dine-in
is an attempt to mitigate what they see as a potentially costly loophole.
Several Taco Bell team members weren't happy with the change. They felt it was unfair that they were
forced to stay on the premises if they weren't being paid for it. Regardless, Taco Bell ended
up winning the approval of the 9th Circuit Court, according to a decision posted by Bloomberg Law.
Taco Bell's Restaurant Support Center also has a strange rule about what its
staff can and can't do during their lunch breaks.
A Taco Bell employee stated on Reddit that staff members at
the franchise's Restaurant Support Center weren't allowed to bring in
any food from competitors or they would be, quote, "disciplined."
The employee also said that the "best part" was that after lunch,
the trash cans outside of the building were always filled with trash from competitors anyway.
"You already know what you want from Taco Bell… You always have. So don't eat like me.
Eat like you."
So despite the rule, staffers clearly got around
it by eating their lunches outside of the building rather than at their desks.
If you're a frequent customer of the Taco Bell drive-thru,
you might claim to see differences between the same order put in at different franchise
locations. But that's not necessarily the case, given how the restaurant manages its ingredients.
Every item at Taco Bell is actually weighed on a scale. If the weight is even tenths of an
ounce off the target weight, the employees are supposed to throw the item out and start over.
A Taco Bell manager writing for Thrillist explained that if a soft taco goes on the
digital scale, it is supposed to weigh 1.6oz. Yes, exactly. The manager added:
"We all train with a scale, and we have to get used to doling out the ingredients precisely,
in order to make everything the correct weight in the end … It's very hard to get that right."
When it comes to rolling burritos, one Taco Bell
employee on Reddit says there's an artful technique taught in training.
The employee was asked why, at some locations, the contents are evenly distributed in burritos,
and in other items, they're not. The worker explained they're taught to fold items like
an "H" so customers get more of an even bite of everything inside the burrito.
Now, what about those items that aren't an even mix? Apparently,
it's due to employees folding their items in a less-than-ideal "I" shape.
This means that when it comes time to fold up the burrito, the process simply doesn't
spread out the ingredients in the same way. So, it stands that some managers may implement that
H-shaped burrito-rolling rule — finicky as it may seem — to keep customers happy.
According to a 2015 Taco Bell employee handbook, the restaurant's workers aren't
actually allowed to spend any time at Taco Bell when they're not on shift. Specifically,
the handbook states that employees can't hang around their Taco Bell location
inside the restaurant, in the parking lot, or on company property when they're not working.
The wording doesn't make it entirely clear whether or not employees can run through the drive-thru on
their day off to grab a meal. But, it could be assumed that it's not strictly approved, either.
Another brave Taco Bell employee took to Reddit to answer the internet's most burning questions about
the fast food chain. They revealed that regardless of an item's condition, the employees are not
supposed to remake any food without a receipt. That doesn’t mean everyone follows that rule.
That particular Taco Bell worker would just remake someone's order if it was made incorrectly,
or even give out free drinks or desserts if the contents of a to-go bag were less than
satisfactory. But don't expect that at every Taco Bell location you visit. Just to be safe,
remember to hold on to your receipt until you've scarfed down the whole meal.
Sometimes when you order Taco Bell,
the number of hot sauce packets a worker throws in your bag will vary.
According to one Taco Bell manager, employees are told to only give out one
sauce pack per item. But, the twist comes when people ask for a "handful" or
"a lot." As you may guess, that doesn't equal a specific number.
So, when a location is slammed and the workers are expected to get orders out
"as fast as possible," some employees opt to give plenty of packets to avoid
any potentially disastrous hold-ups at the counter or drive-thru window.
Taco Bell is synonymous with many things, and supremely satisfying food after a night
out is surely one of those. Therefore, it's always a popular late-night spot
for people in need of a whole lot of meat, cheese, and carbs on a budget.
According to a Taco Bell manager on the Taco Bell subreddit, the inevitable late-night rush can
sometimes determine the exact time employees finally get to clock out of their shift.
At some locations, if the staff makes $75 or more in the hour before closing, they have
to stay open an extra 30 minutes. Taco Bell often gets super busy after midnight, so it makes sense
that they'd accept those orders past closing time if the line is still wrapped around the building.
As with many fast food establishments, the uniform worn by Taco Bell employees is all-important.
According to an employee on Indeed, even the Taco Bell hat is meant to be worn a particular way.
One questioner asked if Taco Bell allowed its employees to
switch up the way they wear the hat. An employee wrote on Indeed:
"There is one specific way to wear the hat, with the bill to the front.
Taco Bell is quite strict in [its] uniform policies."
For most managers, then, even the matter of an employee's hat angle simply isn't up for debate.
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