Eeeeeeeeeeeew! Dunkin Donuts! [Quigley Cartoon Blog]

America’s noses run on Dunkin’

So, let me see if I get this straight.

Dunkin’ Donuts does not allow its employees to accumulate sick days no matter how long they have worked there.

The employees have a choice when they get sick to stay home and lose a day’s pay, and, if it is a multi-day illness, face the possibility of losing their job entirely, or come in to work.

People go to Dunkin Donuts for pastries and sandwiches to eat, and coffee, milk, or juice to drink. But they all go there to consume food products that could be handed to them by someone who, while being sick, has chosen to come to work rather than lose their money or their job.

So, basically, in order to control their workers and keep their profits high, the management makes sick people come to work and handle the food of people who could be healthy when they enter the store, rather than allow a sick employee the opportunity to stay home and get over whatever it is they have so they don’t inadvertantly pass it on to a customer.

You can use those little tissue papers to pick up donuts, never touch a liquid, cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough, and wash your hands every few minutes either with water or hand sanitizer, but an employee still has to breathe. Some illnesses are air borne.

So it would appear that for selfish reasons Dunkin Donuts has no problem playing with the health of its customers.

This also seems a little foolish in that a healthy employee is more productive than someone who is worn down from an illness. One or two days home can translate into a more upbeat and energetic employee, whereas someone forced to come to work while sick can be lethargic and not the best person to interact with a customer.

This is why unions still have a purpose. In a case like this they not only negotiate working conditions that benefit the employees, but when it comes to illness, negotiated sick days are also good for the customers.

Under the circumstances, instead of asking if we want fries with that, Dunkin Donuts should be asking if we want someone’s illness with that.