This Restaurant Reportedly Threatened To Fire Employees Without 5-Star Google Reviews
Workers in the restaurant industry sometimes have interesting rules they must follow. Even global fast food chains have been known to include a wacky rule or two in their employee contracts. For example, Chick-Fil-A has strict rules about facial hair, hair length, visible tattoos, and break times, according to a rule handbook shared on Reddit.
Tio Taco and Tequila Bar in New Jersey has come under fire recently a policy that puts other restaurant rules to shame. In a since-deleted Reddit post, a picture of a new policy slated to start in February 2022 has gone viral. The policy reportedly required that all front-of-house employees garner "a minimum of five Google reviews a month" that mentioned their name and ranked the eatery with five stars. Employees who couldn't meet the new criteria faced the possibility of being fired, and those who score 15 or more reviews were incentivized with perks like free meals, free merch, and gift cards in an effort to promote "healthy competition".
As expected, the restaurant found itself in a huge scandal with an outraged Reddit community and raging Google reviews. The backlash was so great, however, that the restaurant owner reportedly received death threats over it (via Business Insider).
The managers responsible for the policy have been fired
According to Business Insider, the Tio Taco and Tequila Bar in New Jersey is a part of the Triple T Hospitality Group along with nine other restaurants. The hospitality group's chief marketing officer and co-owner, Andrea Bonfiglio, told the site that the policy was implemented by the restaurant's general manager without the owner's knowledge. It was only after the photo went viral on Reddit that Bonfiglio and her family and business partners found out about it, after which they promptly fired the general and assistant general managers responsible for the fiasco.
Although no employees were fired over the policy except the managers, Bonfiglio told Business Insider that she and her family were swamped with now-deleted negative Google reviews across all their ten restaurants as well as vicious hate mail and death threats directed towards her and her family. Bonfiglio stressed that the hospitality group is committed to ensuring a happy workplace and that the infamous policy does not reflect the values of the business.