Using tablets to knock out a long drive-thru line in a fast-food operation is a newer practice, but has become exceedingly common in recent years. With the technology, restaurateurs (and fast-food corporations) work to enhance customer satisfaction and prevent them from waiting in long lines to place and pay for orders.
However, workers using tablets in place of a standard drive-thru window has been a point of contention—especially when it comes to severe weather conditions.
One customer of chicken chain Raising Cane’s is calling out her local location of the restaurant for using employees with tablets to manage their drive-thru line even in 100-degree heat.
In a TikTok that has drawn over 460,000 views on the platform, user @prettyinpinkcc says she overheard the employee complaining about the heat over her headset, but that she had been given a small fan.
“Why do we do this?” the TikToker asks viewers. “Why can’t they take orders inside when it’s 100 degrees out? I don’t understand how this makes any sense. There’s two lines. The other line is closed. But it’s faster for her to stand outside and take payments and take orders in the f*cking heat?”
Hearing the Cane’s worker complain about the heat only made @prettyinpinkcc more upset.
“I just got done ordering my food, and she was just complaining on the little headset how f*cking hot it was,” she explains. “I said, guess what, I was just making a TikTok about you. Cane’s. Cane’s Chicken. Can you explain why you let these kids go outside at 100 degrees and take orders and payments? Why do you have an order board with a speaker that isn’t even being used and a drive-thru that’s closed?”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @prettyinpinkcc via TikTok direct message and a comment on the video, as well as to Raising Cane’s via email.
Can they do that?
In short, it heavily depends on where the poster is located. Different states have varying levels of protections for working in the heat. For example, in California, employers are required to provide cooling areas and monitor employees for signs of heat-related illness.
Is this safe?
Per the Centers for Disease Control, it is not advisable to work outdoors in 100-degree heat for prolonged periods of time, as heat-related illness can reach high risk for even moderate levels of work in higher temperatures.
Several viewers pointed out that there are a variety of jobs that require employees to work outside for long periods of time in similar conditions.
“What about the men that work outside port things too,” one commenter wrote.
“Farm workers always work in the heat with low pay,” another argued.
“You got people building roofs in this heat,” a third said.
@prettyinpinkcc She's straight up said "well at least they gave me a fan"! She was so sweet too! #canyouexplain ♬ original sound – PrettyinPink
However, others shared that they had similar concerns about worker safety in these conditions.
“I was just saying this last week, a girl in buds chicken doing this and you still had to wait a couple minutes to pick up because of the long line,” one commenter wrote.
“I agree I don’t understand this either I feel so sorry for them it’s too damn hot outside,” another commented
“I feel the same way those poor workers,” a further user added. “They do the same at Dutch Bros and inn and out.”
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