Brian Nagele
Chick-fil-A is a fast-food chain known for its impeccable and impressive commitment to customer service. This chicken chain has insanely high standards for everything, especially its employees.
Employee appearance and behavior are at the forefront of customer service. Some rules make perfect sense, while others seem bizarre and overkill.
Chick-fil-A Employee Rules
If you’re curious about what it takes to be a good Chick-fil-A employee, check out nine of the most interesting Chick-fil-A employee rules below.
They range from how to exchange pleasantries to what to do with your hair to returning their uniform!
Employees are encouraged to say “My Pleasure” as a response to “Thank you.”
Technically, this is not a hard rule but is highly encouraged by the handbook and managers.
Saying “My pleasure” instead of “You’re welcome” is considered part of Chick-fil-A’s commitment to going above and beyond.
“You’re welcome” implies you’ve done some sort of favor, while “My pleasure” implies you were more than happy to do it!
Hairstyles and facial hair are highly regulated.
Chick-fil-A takes employee hair appearance and management seriously.
Male employees must have hair no longer than their shirt collar.
Beards and soul patches are strictly prohibited, but sideburns and mustaches are allowed as long as they are neatly groomed.
Female employees with hair past their shoulders must wear it pulled back in a ponytail, bun, or braid.
No fun hairstyles allowed.
Chick-fil-A employees cannot have any fun hairstyles. What is a fun hairstyle?
Essentially, any style that is unnatural and distracts customers. So, no unnatural hair colors or carvings are allowed.
Employees cannot have funky hair accessories like feathers, beads, or jewels.
Employees have to hide their tattoos.
Unsurprisingly, Chick-fil-A employees cannot have any visible tattoos.
Anyone with neck, face, or hand tattoos cannot be hired. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Visible piercings are okay, but not the jewelry itself, meaning you can have a visible piercing hole but cannot wear any jewelry in it.
Leave the jewelry at home.
Chick-fil-A employees cannot wear any jewelry during their shift, meaning no rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, or facial piercings.
The only exceptions to this jewelry rule are wedding bands, as long as they are not too flashy, simple watches, and small earrings for women.
Men cannot way any piercings, but women can wear studs or tiny hoops, just no dangly earrings.
Uniforms must be returned cleaned and pressed.
The uniform rules are odd, strict, and specific.
When leaving Chick-fil-A, exiting employees must return their uniform clean and pressed, and Chick-fil-A will withhold their final paycheck until they comply with this rule.
They give employees the uniform for free, but if they quit within the first six months, they must purchase their uniform for $30.
Smile, even while on the phone.
Believe it or not, smiling makes your voice and tone sound different.
Smiling is an important element of customer service, but Chick-fil-A employees are even supposed to smile when speaking to customers on the phone to ensure they always strike the right friendly tone.
They cannot share menu hacks on social media.
Menu hacks are a popular trend where fast food workers share secret orders not on the official menu.
When a Chik-fil-A employee did this, she was called in and terminated, setting the precedent that Chick-fil-A workers cannot share these hacks on social media.
But there’s still nothing to stop them from telling friends or family.
Workers cannot accept tips.
Accepting a tip from a customer is an automatic termination at Chick-fil-A.
You will never see a tip jar or tip field on a Chick-fil-A receipt.
A handful of locations have amended this rule to avoid offending customers who want to tip, but almost every location strictly prohibits tips.
