Redditors Are Hilariously Unimpressed By Chipotle's New Employee Hats

There are nearly 100,000 U.S.-based Chipotle employees, whose job responsibilities should be familiar to anyone who's worked in a restaurant: taking orders, fulfilling those orders, and conducting payment transactions, as well as preparing food, cleaning, and re-stocking the restaurant, according to Job-Applications.com.

Recent incidents, in which some Chipotle workers claimed to be victims of discrimination, aside, the fast-casual chain seems to be a run-of-the-mill foodservice place to work — at least in terms of required apparel. There's nothing overly embarrassing in the Chipotle dress code, and self-expression is fine with many bosses. Commenting on Indeed, an employee at a Texas Chipotle location reports that workers simply need a company shirt and hat, pants or shorts that reach down to at least their fingertips, and non-slip shoes (safety first). Rules about tattoos, piercings, and hair color seem to vary by location.

There's one more dress code rule, however, and it's one we all appreciate as customers: Employees with long hair must tie it back under their hat, according to a screenshot from a Chipotle memo shared on Reddit. Since this isn't always easy for those with full, lengthy locks, Chipotle apparently attempted to accommodate its gifted-in-the-hair-department employees with what Reddit thought was a pretty unusual piece of headgear.

Caps keep restaurant employees' hair out of customers' meals — a good thing. But a new hat for Chipotle crew members, shared in a Reddit post called, "The new hats... why not just a visor," struck the funny bones of some readers. It looks like a baseball cap...with a big bite taken out of the back. It's unusual, even funny, at first sight.

Reddit had plenty of thoughts about the post, many from current or former Chipotle employees. The first comment put it bluntly: "What the f*** is that?" Other commenters added, "I'm screaming," "This is horrible," and "Even McDonald's's visor hat is better."

Others applauded the effort for what it was: an attempt to make "better hats for people with dreads or braids!" Despite its unusual looks, the hat is actually functional for a lot of people. As one poster pointed out: "A lot of my coworkers with dreads ended up ripping or cutting their hats into this shape so this kinda makes sense." Some with voluminous curls agreed that though an alternative to a standard cap is necessary, this particular hat misses the mark. "Im begging for visors as somebody with type 4 hair," wrote one Redditor.

Others thought that no matter their hair type, this accessory would at least keep workers' heads cool. "ALL THE VENTALATION [sic]," proclaimed one enthusiastic commenter. "This will make bald spots pretty visible," worried a less excited Redditor. Our favorite commenter said they're definitely ordering one of these...and wearing it backwards.