When you think of the worst possible jobs, what could they possibly entail? Cleaning sewage? Coal mining? Retail sales? Surely those are all not nearly the best (work-related accidents and being berated by angry Karens are just two problems those jobs will have you facing), but we’re pretty sure we found the worst job ever recently. How bad could it be, you’re asking? Well, read on to find out. It’s so bad that much of the job’s requirements are borderline illegal – and some aspects of the requirements actually are.
We’re here to help, so we’ll give you the skinny. The tl;dr version of this is that a drive-in movie theater in Maryland named Bengies, which has been around for several decades, received viral backlash for its “outdated” policies. Once you read said policies, you’ll find that descriptor to be a massive understatement. As Baltimore Fishbowl notes above, here’s a few of the policies that employees must adhere to.
Employees must give 17 days written notice, and get it approved by management, before taking time off from work.
Employees must be reachable by phone on short notice.
Employees are allowed to attend movies for free, but could be “drafted” to work if they are needed, according to the policy.
Employees are prohibited from having “body piercing adornments,” including wearing more than one earring in each ear. They must also cover tattoos, and “wild” hair colors may be deemed inappropriate.
Employees may not wear Bengies attire in any Royal Farms store.
Bruh the drive in movie theater bengies near me just posted their job application and the rules are fucking terrible. Look at this shit. pic.twitter.com/jsj4b0dRMH
— Demetrius📸 (@meechie2_) February 15, 2022
Hilariously, the Bengies website removed the employee policies from their database. In an act of cowardice, they turned off comments on their FB page as well and admitted (under pressure, no doubt) that their policies were “outdated”. Wow, who could have imagined?
I've never seen employment rules this restrictive and demanding, and this is likely a gig a lot of students take. My guess is this is an excessive overreaction to inconsistent student employees.
Looks like they realized they were bout to kill their clientele & maybe get sued pic.twitter.com/4DDKwCm1vR
— Naima Cochrane (@naima) February 16, 2022
The owner of Bengie's shows up in Annapolis to testify against EVERY bill that would improve wages or working conditions for his employees: $15 mw, $10 mw, Earned Sick Leave, Advanced notice of schedule (ironic since they want yours 17 days in advance) 1/
— Charly Carter (@ProgressAdvocat) February 16, 2022
Even longtime supporters of the drive-in, which has existed since 1956, are upset. In fact, some of them reportedly aren’t coming back, which means the power of viral media on socials certainly has plenty to do with the backlash. Another dead giveaway for these outdated policies and the owner of Bengies is the unnecessary amount of CAPS LOCK words on the company’s website. It even extends to the site’s FAQ section, one of which reads the following:
What do I do if my battery vehicle’s battery dies?
Please follow your vehicle’s owner’s manual instructions on how to play your radio without draining its battery.
We can help if your battery dies. Please see one of our field attendants. Once we get your vehicle started, you cannot run your engine to charge your battery. Carbon monoxide is poison. You will have to leave the theatre.
Just a FYI, the two week notice thing is 100% illegal. You are not required to give any notice if you quit, and there's no legal action they can take.
— Jason Hyde (@Hydedriver) February 16, 2022
Wow, what an uncanny observation here. Incredible, really. Who wants to be yelled at by a drive-in theater’s FAQ? Not anyone normal, that’s for sure. The real problem is asking for 17 days notice for any kind of call-off of your work shift. Not 15, not 14, not even 21, 17 days. Maybe the owner is a big 3 Doors Down fan or something, we’ll never know. Regardless, the full list of requirements for employees is probably the most unhinged stuff you’ll ever read.
I remember several red flags the one time I went to Bengies but this was the biggest one for me. This is posted in their bathrooms. pic.twitter.com/8rMvTODatw
— Kacie Tafer (@SmutWithClass) February 16, 2022
Employees under 18:
-May not leave without a legal guardian picking them up
-Must leave immediately.
-Will be fired if they acknowledge their family, if they show up to pick them up one minute early.
You got all that? pic.twitter.com/t0YmFmNRvV— Churono (@Churono) February 16, 2022
