Restaurant requirements on IDing workers, a twist.....

Hi all,

I think most of you know for the most part I do restaurant shops for MSing and do them mostly to augment my lifestyle. I picked up a nice looking new restaurant that reimburses over 100 for a nice meal. For the first time ever, in the guidelines it asks me to state the ethnicity of each person I interact with. I have never seen that before. They also ask that I don't try to guess the age, which is always asked for at most places.

Color me surprised. I am going to have to think to remember these slightly backwards rules.

Orlando - lightly shopping NC

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2019 02:58PM by oteixeira.

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Well, back in the old days they asked for the person's weight approximation, too. Guess HR had a field day with those reports. I also remember reports where you had to check off skin tone to describe an employee - yeesh.

Many clients for Marketforce have you state the race of the individual you interacted with.

In my area, a grocery Client for Confero and a convenience store Client for Alta 360 ask for ethnicity on their employee descriptions. YMMV

To me that would seem like an HR nightmare, but I am glad there are other examples. I also remember the jobs were they asked for "body type" back in they day. I am guessing people got tired of being told they were overweight even though they did their job great. Thanks all!

Orlando - lightly shopping NC

I regularly shop with two MSC that require this for all clients. Of course I shop for many more MSCs which specifically ask that it not be included.

I have been shopping for 12 years and have always put in the build or weight AVERAGE and have never had any editor ask or return my shops.

I am becoming convinced that my estimates of weight are completely unreliable. This is just not one of my skill sets. But, I have never had a shop returned for correction because someone weighed 150 pounds instead of 130 pounds. I suspect that I overestimate at the low end, and underestimate at the high end.

By the way, a friend of mine gained 5 pounds after she had both hips replaced. The orthopedic surgeon told her that the implants weigh more than the bone. If she had her knees replaces, another 5 pounds. She looks the same. How would I ever know to add 10 pounds to her weight?

Small, average, large I can deal with. One MSC requires weight to the nearest pound. Seriously?

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

If I have to guess the weight of a female I use myself as the standard and add/subtract pounds as appropriate. Males still give me problems, though.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

There was a really nice associate at a linen store I used to shop frequently. She legitimately weighed 400 pounds. I listed her as 225 pounds for five years. Never was questioned.

Thanks to Chipotle, I never, ever describe a person by race. If there is a pull down box, I check "Other" or "Unknown" and give a thorough description of the employee.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

For weight, I typically just say "thin," "average," or "heavyset," I never try to specify a number.

And if the response is a drop-down with every number from50 to 450 pounds? I am not exaggerating. And another requires a numeric answer (just digits) and checks to see if you have entered just digits, not letters or symbols.

@Misanthrope wrote:

For weight, I typically just say "thin," "average," or "heavyset," I never try to specify a number.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

The shop I did tonight asked for race. This is rare these days. I have only seen it with this particular MSC.

For another MSC, they ask for YOUR height, weight, hair color and length, and even the clothes you are wearing. They ask for the same information for your companion.

A new requirement for 1 MSC I work with now states they no longer use gender in employee descriptions. They only allow hair color, length, glasses or not. If a name tag is visible, then in the narratives the name must be used. Otherwise, there is no gender allowed such as he/ she. Another MSC requires listing if there are visible tattoos/ piercings.
If working with multiple companies on a regular basis, we really have to keep on top of what the clients want.

Philadelphia Based, covering Eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland

One company I work for asks race on everyone but fortunately one of the choices is unknown. They never say anything when I use that choice and I am sure I often click the wrong choice when I do think I know. I thought this industry had pretty much gotten rid of using race over the years I have been working but it seems it is making a comeback now along with other back sliding we have done in recent years. I thought it was funny when I did the Chipotle shops. The first few years in my area every single employee except perhaps the manager had the same exact description.

I don't find this "backward" at all. If it's a big restaurant and the server's name is Avraham, DeShawn, Muhammed, or Conner, ethnicity might not be needed to identify him. But what if his name is Michael, David, or Joshua -- and there are four of each working there?

It's a description, not a judgement. Same as reporting on whether someone appears to have blonde, brown, red or black hair. Ditto for weight -- "She weighed a whopping 400#" is offensive. "Weight: 225#" is not. They're simply descriptors (except for the one example.) Walk away from the PC madness.

[fyi, the names in the second sentence are from a baby site which lists most popular names for different ethnicities. Michael, David, and Joshua apparently cross most all ethnic borders.]

"Let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ~Walter Williams

I totally agree with you that descriptors help to identify but the current climate and the climate for many years has been that our society as a whole (not everyone agrees but it is the current "acceptable" way to think) is that mentioning race, age, sex, weight, etc is offensive to people. In actuality I find any descriptor to be offensive if it is said with the wrong attitude. So when people tell me my hair is curly and immediately follow up by saying, "why don't you do something with your hair" that is offensive. Curly is not yet on the bad list. Maybe someday it will be. I did not mean backward meaning we are going in the wrong direction I just meant we are going back to something that was ok before. I always thought it was ok to describe someone if need be if done objectively and for good purpose.

@iShop123 wrote:

I don't find this "backward" at all. If it's a big restaurant and the server's name is Avraham, DeShawn, Muhammed, or Conner, ethnicity might not be needed to identify him. But what if his name is Michael, David, or Joshua -- and there are four of each working there?

It's a description, not a judgement. Same as reporting on whether someone appears to have blonde, brown, red or black hair. Ditto for weight -- "She weighed a whopping 400#" is offensive. "Weight: 225#" is not. They're simply descriptors (except for the one example.) Walk away from the PC madness.

[fyi, the names in the second sentence are from a baby site which lists most popular names for different ethnicities. Michael, David, and Joshua apparently cross most all ethnic borders.]

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Restaurant requirements on IDing workers, a twist.....

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