The bane of any job applicant’s life—well, one of the banes—is a company that won’t say what kind of salary it offers. Apparently, a popular gas station chain has avoided this pitfall.
Buc-ee’s, a roadside favorite because of its clean restrooms and sprawling convenience store aisles, recently posted a sign listing hourly rates and salaries for its available positions, according to TikTok creator and job-search expert Madeline Mann (@selfmademillennial). Mann this week documented those dollars in a viral video.
The video has more than 29,000 likes and almost 391,000 views.
@selfmademillennial Put your “competitive pay” on a sign so we can judge for ourselves 🤷♀️ End the back and forth of salary negotiations #salarytransparency #negotiatesalary #money #career #careeradvice #jobsearch #jobtips ♬ original sound – Madeline Mann
“Buc-ee’s put what they’re paying people on a sign, and I’m here for it,” Mann says in the video.
A photo of the Buc-ee’s sign shows pay ranges for part- and full-time workers. The lowest pay tier, which includes cashiers, starts at $16 an hour. A department manager can make up to $31 hourly.
On the full-time side of things, assistant general managers make $100,000 and up. At the top, a general manager starts at $150,000, with the potential to make more than $225,000. According to the sign, full-time positions come with a 401(k) with company matching up to 6%, three weeks of paid time off, and health benefits.
“If your company’s going to say you pay competitive wages, put it on a sign and we’ll be the judge,” Mann says. In the caption, she wrote, “End the back and forth of salary negotiations,” using the hashtag #salarytransparency.
One commenter appreciated the transparency: “this also opens up the conversation for workers to discuss their wages with each other to make sure they’re paid fairly.”
“US military: All pay for rank, years of service and duty specialties are available. All jobs should have this. No wage secrets,” a viewer chimed in.
A comment read, “I went to medical school and they pay cashiers more [than] what I get paid.”
“Cool but wow the gap between management and everyone else,” another person commented.
“Honestly doesn’t look that bad, getting 15$/hr at my current jobs that probably works you twice as hard,” someone else commented.
“The benefits look better than mine,” one comment read.
Another person commented, “Now everyone else has something to compare their wage to. it’s opening up kind of worms.”
Pay transparency is a hot topic among the workforce, and there’s a growing push for employers to be more open about how they’re paying workers. A survey of HR professionals revealed that 42% of their organizations are required to include pay ranges in job postings, Nerd Wallet reports, adding that some states and cities have pay transparency laws on the books.
The Harvard Business Review writes that the practice “is reducing pay inequities across gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other dimensions.”
According to the Department of Labor, “Under Executive Order 11246, you have the right to inquire about, discuss, or disclose your own pay or that of other employees or applicants. You cannot be disciplined, harassed, demoted, terminated, denied employment, or otherwise discriminated against because you exercised this right. However, this right is subject to certain limited exceptions.”
But several commenters on Mann’s video wrote that the juice might not be worth the squeeze at Buc-ee’s.
“Yeah it’s awesome pay but be prepared to work in a really strict job environment,” one commenter wrote.
“I worked there quit within the week literally The strictest work environment and you literally get paid nothing,” someone wrote.
“I have never heard of anyone having a good experience working there though,” another commented.
One viewer added, “Yeah, I’ve heard their actual work conditions are pretty bad. like only get a 5 min lunch and you have to stand.”
In 2022, a TikTok creator and with experience working at Buc-ee’s opened up about the strict environment, specifically mentioning a “no phones” policy.
On employment review website Glassdoor, Buc-ee’s has 3.1 stars out of five stars, and 46% of users said they would recommend it to friends. A sample of pros and cons curated by Glassdoor lists pay and benefits as positive factors and a lack of sufficient breaks as a negative.
The Daily Dot reached out to Mann and Buc-ee’s via email.
