Donut Dilemma: What is an 'employee wellness' fee?

Donut Dilemma: What is an 'employee wellness' fee?

Our question is - does the money go to the employees?

A receipt from a Dunkin Donuts
A receipt for Dunkin Donuts in LAX airport/Reddit/@u/bobster7171

Buying donuts doesn't sound like something that is associated with tipping the server. But each to their own, after all if you have worked in any part of the service industry, you would appreciate some acknowledgement. 

It's not easy dealing with customers in any field. So, by right, it sounds fair that an employer would want to cater for their employees' rights and reward them accordingly. In fact, we would raise both our hands up for that kind of employer... wouldn't you? 

Before you get carried away, take this into account. A picture of a receipt from a Dunkin Donuts store at the Los Angeles Airport was shared to Reddit recently. The image shows that there is a built-in cost of $0.16, which is around R2.30, dedicated to 'employee wellness'. 

Check out the receipt below, and notice that the explanation about the 3% fee was cut off from the image. 

A user reveals what the text reads: "A 3% Employee Wellness Charge is applied to all guest checks. This surcharge is not a gratuity payable directly to staff." (Reddit)

Of course, at first glance you would think that the employee wellness fee would in fact be for the employees. But according to the fine print, it doesn't seem so. This opened up the conversation about servers and tips.

Check out some of the comments below: 

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Image Courtesy of Reddit

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