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This shit's got me so pissed you don't even wanna know
12 years ago
General
I'm not sure if anyone heard yet, but there's some really shady shit going on in the restaurant/fast food industry. McDonald's has been trying to save a buck by giving its employees fee-laden debit cards in lieu of a normal paycheck. Because it costs them a bit of money to hire a payroll company to cut the checks, they'd rather bypass that step and give employees their pay on these cards instead. Because, you know, McDonald's, a multi-billion dollar corporation, is really hurting for the money. *insert eyeroll here*
Well, I recently received an email from the National Restaurant Association introducing their new EDGE Discover card which is pretty much like the Visa cards McDonald's is trying to force on it's employees. I got this email because I'm on the NRA's (that R stands for Restaurant, NOT Rifle, don't be confused!) mailing list from when I signed up to complete a food safety test online to get my Food Handler's Card. I would like copy and paste this email right here, but you can get pretty much the same information I received by going directly to their website: EdgePrepaid.com.
If you go to https://www.edgeprepaid.com/Why-Edge and click on the tiny fine-print link under the chart that says "Schedule of Fees", you'll see how awful this card really is. Fees to withdraw your own money, fees for a simple balance inquiry at an ATM, an ATM decline fee, AND fees to make a bill payment!
The NRA claims they are helping out the hard-working employees of the food service industry by offering them this 'convenient' card, but really it's a slap in the face by charging them fees to access their own money. The National Restaurant Association is working with Discover and The Bancorp Bank to issue this card, and I think it would be a great idea for a campaign to urge the NRA to drop their association with Discover card and stop encouraging food-service companies from paying their employees with fee-laden debit cards. Fast food and restaurant workers already bear the brunt of a broken economy, making them take these cards instead of a traditional paycheck will only chip away at their already meager wages while the people at the top pocket the savings.
I've already contacted SumOfUs.org to see if they will shine a spotlight on this issue, much in the same way they've started a campaign and petition for McDonald's to drop their association with Visa. I want to bring this up because if big companies/associations like McDonald's and the NRA can get away with paying employees with these cards, other companies will take notice and follow suit, and that's terrible. People should not have to pay fees to access their own hard-earned money!
Well, I recently received an email from the National Restaurant Association introducing their new EDGE Discover card which is pretty much like the Visa cards McDonald's is trying to force on it's employees. I got this email because I'm on the NRA's (that R stands for Restaurant, NOT Rifle, don't be confused!) mailing list from when I signed up to complete a food safety test online to get my Food Handler's Card. I would like copy and paste this email right here, but you can get pretty much the same information I received by going directly to their website: EdgePrepaid.com.
If you go to https://www.edgeprepaid.com/Why-Edge and click on the tiny fine-print link under the chart that says "Schedule of Fees", you'll see how awful this card really is. Fees to withdraw your own money, fees for a simple balance inquiry at an ATM, an ATM decline fee, AND fees to make a bill payment!
The NRA claims they are helping out the hard-working employees of the food service industry by offering them this 'convenient' card, but really it's a slap in the face by charging them fees to access their own money. The National Restaurant Association is working with Discover and The Bancorp Bank to issue this card, and I think it would be a great idea for a campaign to urge the NRA to drop their association with Discover card and stop encouraging food-service companies from paying their employees with fee-laden debit cards. Fast food and restaurant workers already bear the brunt of a broken economy, making them take these cards instead of a traditional paycheck will only chip away at their already meager wages while the people at the top pocket the savings.
I've already contacted SumOfUs.org to see if they will shine a spotlight on this issue, much in the same way they've started a campaign and petition for McDonald's to drop their association with Visa. I want to bring this up because if big companies/associations like McDonald's and the NRA can get away with paying employees with these cards, other companies will take notice and follow suit, and that's terrible. People should not have to pay fees to access their own hard-earned money!
I'm just saying it's a terrible idea. We shouldn't let big corporations get away with paying their employees with these cards just to save a buck on writing out checks. It concerns me because I've worked in the food/restaurant industry in one capacity or another for several years now, and I know the people work hard and pay isn't that great (unless you're in management), but do the job anyway because in some cases they no other options. They work long days in less-than-ideal conditions, and they have bills to pay and families to feed just like anyone else. The last thing they need is to have their wages chipped away at little by little with these bullshit fees to access their own money. If only we lived in a world where wonderful things like bank accounts and direct deposit existed to eliminate things like payment cards and paper checks altogether! Oh wait... WE ALREADY DO.
These Edge cards are nothing new. Staffing agencies started to use these cards a few years, they are just not catching up big corporations.
You always have to option to opt of getting one.
Because companies are greedy bastards. It costs a corporation to write out paychecks; they have to hire people to do payroll and sign the checks/do other accounting work that goes on behind the scenes. And of course, this costs some money. But because this extremely-profitable billion-dollar fast-food companies can't bear the thought of spending more money than absolutely necessary, they look to cut costs wherever they can, including giving out paychecks on EDGE cards instead giving them a basic paper paycheck which involves hiring people (spending money) to do work in the payroll department.
Like I said, this places a burden on the employees because the card charges them fees to use the money on the card, (their hard-earned money made from working) but honestly, since when have corporations ever given a fuck about their workers?