10 Things That Could Get You Fired From Costco

For shoppers, Costco is a haven of bulk buys, free samples, and perpetually cheap hot dogs. Its over 300,000 employees across the globe, however, experience a whole other side to the retail chain that plenty of us will never know (unless you're nosy and do a deep dive into the inner workings of Costco employee life, like us).

Costco has a reputation for being a great place to work, often ranking high for employee perks and satisfaction rates. But like all successful businesses of its scale, it takes some serious structure and processes to keep the cogs running smoothly. Success is built with rules and regulations, not to mention penalizing those employees that choose not to follow them.

There are some things that could get employees fired at any business worth its salt, such as repeatedly arriving late (or skipping out on work altogether) and failing to treat co-workers or customers with respect. At Costco, there are a few more specific errors that could land you a spot in your manager's bad books. From the food court to the sample stands, Costco employees who make a habit of breaking the following rules could easily find themselves without a job altogether.

If the prospect of purchasing items in bulk at fair prices isn't enough to convert someone to the Costco life, the wonders of its food court just might do the trick. The chain is renowned for its affordable hot dogs ($1.50 and somehow perpetually existing beyond the realm of inflation and soaring food costs), pizza slices, hefty chocolate chip cookies, and other tasty treats that have us dropping by more often than we actually need groceries. However, if you've ever thought that those doling out the food can take these treats home for free — similar to how a lot of McDonald's and Burger King franchises allow workers a pre-determined amount of food per shift — you would be wrong.

As per Costco food court employees, it's categorically against Costco policy to help yourself to free food. Instead, on occasion, workers will receive vouchers that can be used for free food. However, this isn't a daily perk. Instead, employees claim to have received vouchers to celebrate 45 days without any injuries. While some employees claim to have previously received free soda, this also seems to have been phased out over the years. Should employees start pocketing food for free, we can only assume that this would constitute theft — something that'll get you fired from any job, Costco included.

Not only are employees denied free food on shift, but another secret of the Costco food court is that boxing up any leftovers for your own personal use is also a big no-no. While Costco tends to have a bunch of food at the end of each day, its workers have long noted that the chain opts not to allow employees to quite literally get a slice of the action.

Instead, these employees are allegedly expected to throw away food on a daily basis. "Typically only a few pizzas and a box full of hotdogs," claims one employee on Reddit. "Also, tons of boxes of excess pre-chopped onion in bags go down the compost chute." At the same time, multiple Costcos apparently partner with local food banks to donate anything that's left once the store locks down for the day.

There's a fairly reasonable explanation as to why Costco may prohibit its workers from taking home extra food. Should this become the norm, it could encourage those working in the food court to start whipping up more food than necessary in the hopes of securing unsold dishes for themselves, which could quickly start eating into Costco's profits. We doubt that makes it much easier to watch $15 worth of hot dogs tumble down the trash chute at the end of an eight-hour shift, though.

From the checkout to the warehouse, all Costco employees have something in common (besides, you know, the fact they work at Costco): They can't accept tips. While the chain may have a reputation for über-friendly employees, it turns out that this kindness doesn't come with the expectation of monetary reward; accepting any kind of tip is forbidden, as per company policy.

If employee testimonies are anything to go by, Costco can — and will — crack down on those found to have accepted cash regardless. "A seasonal cart pusher was fired for taking tips at my store," recalled one worker on Reddit. "It's unfortunate but they are very strict about this policy." The company logic here is that Costco treats its employees well enough to make tips irrelevant, with employees saying as much on social media when explaining the rules around accepting tips. Instead, the brand recommends that customers wanting to lavish extra praise or rewards upon a worker leave a recommendation for their manager, which can lead to rewards like free food court vouchers.

In theory, anywhere and everywhere that sells food follows stringent food safety guidelines. Costco is no exception. The chain lays down some thorough rules for all employees — whether they directly handle food in their day-to-day or not — with the training involved significantly more extensive for those on the front lines, such as the food court itself.

Costco administers food safety education and training programs that it developed in-house. All managers must take Costco's Level 2 Food Safety Manager Training course every three years, while any hourly employees who handle food need to take its computer training course, Costco U Level 1 Food Safety Training, on an annual basis. "Our main goal was to come up with a simplified, understandable process designed for and accessible to that 18-year-old high school graduate who is actually doing the work in order to make the program efficacious," R. Craig Wilson, Costco's vice president of food safety and quality assurance, explained to Food Safety Magazine.

As with any kind of mandatory training, everything that's learned during these courses is information that needs to be put into practice on a daily basis. Considering how dire the consequences can be, food safety is something every major chain needs to take seriously, meaning employees who neglect to follow these rules can face equally serious consequences.

This sounds counterintuitive, considering the extent to which Costco employees must follow food handling rules. However, those who've worked in the food court claim the chain is equally strict about how often — or, to be more accurate, when — you wash your hands.

The biggest issue is apparently washing your hands in between handling cash and handling food. Employees on Reddit claim that this is seen as unnecessarily slowing down service and wasting precious time that could be spent serving more customers. "They have an unwritten policy that you can't wash your hands in between handling cash, and putting on gloves to prepare dogs," explained one employee, who went on to add that "most of the time they keep it so short staffed that washing your hands isn't an option, and will get you in trouble." This doesn't seem to be the case at every Costco location, with some employees claiming that they have a specific worker allocated to the cashier for this very reason. However, it's a common enough phenomenon that some customers have even noticed the unspoken rule in practice.

One of the many perks of working at Costco is free membership. In fact, you receive an Executive Membership — the top tier of Costco's program, which offers exclusive savings on Costco Services, benefits on Costco Travel products, and an annual 2% reward on certain Costco purchases. Not only do employees skip out on paying the $130 fees, but so do their family and friends. Employees claim that each worker is allowed to gift free membership to up to three other people, meaning their inner circle could, theoretically, arrange a group hang in the Costco food court if they so wished.

One thing that isn't allowed, however, is trying to stretch that free membership beyond that small group. While employees claim that some managers will turn a blind eye to employees sharing their membership cards, others have been reprimanded and fired for doing so in the past. Costco has also cracked down on customers mooching off other people's memberships lately. While all members are entitled to bring up to two guests, Costco has increasingly introduced scanners at the entrance, sometimes even checking IDs to verify their identity if their account doesn't feature a photograph. With that in mind, we're not totally shocked by this rule — or the fact that Costco won't hesitate to crack down on those trying to exploit their free access.

The period between March 2020 and June 2021 is what we like to call the Costco Dark Ages. Thanks to the cruel twist of fate that was COVID-19, one of the core pillars of the Costco shopping experience — aka Costco's free sample stands — were temporarily removed from stores to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. Fortunately, those days are behind us, as are some of the more intense Costco rules that spawned during COVID-19. One rule that remains a constant is maintaining the cleanliness of sample stands — something that, pandemic or no pandemic, can easily land a sampler in their manager's bad books.

According to those who have worked on the stands (which are actually staffed by an external company called Club Demonstration Services, not Costco itself), anything and everything touched by a customer must be sanitized. That means samplers can get a little frustrated when customers do start helping themselves, as it just creates extra mandatory work. "Don't touch ANYTHING other than what's on that red tray IN THE FRONT or the napkin dispenser, unless told otherwise," requested one sampler on Reddit. "Don't try to take from the tray behind. Don't reach over and try to help yourself to an extra utensil or cup. Everything you touch, I have to either re-sanitize or throw away." Something to remember next time you find yourself darting for a free meatball or slice of cheese mid-shop.

Just like any other chain of this scale, not every Costco experience is alike. Employees at a store in Carlsbad, California, won't have the exact same experience as their counterparts in Hangzhou, China. However, enough have alleged that their store boasts the same strange rule to earn it a spot on this list. Multiple employees have claimed that those working in the food court, front end, or as cashiers been restricted from taking their water bottles onto the shop floor and instead directed to use the water fountains if thirsty.

While this may sound unfairly restrictive, this isn't done purely to deprive employees of hydration. One worker claimed that the reasoning for this rule — at least for cashiers — is the risk that comes with having water around Costco's expensive cash register equipment. It's also not uncommon for kitchens to ban water bottles due to the risk of cross-contamination. However, the motivation for management insisting on going bottle-free isn't always quite as logical. Others have noted that their management thought that the act of drinking on the shop floor simply looked unprofessional, hence the unofficial rule.

It may seem like Costco samplers are there to keep us fueled on a multi-hour shopping spree, but their job description goes far beyond "constant snack supplier." Samplers, both past and present, have detailed the expectations and guidelines that come with the role, such as not serving unaccompanied kids who aren't tall enough to see over the cart and sticking to the 12-foot rule.

As the name suggests, this rule basically means that samplers can't stray beyond a 12-foot radius from their samples cart. For one thing, samplers are expected to be on hand to sell customers on the actual items they're sampling. Another, more pressing explanation for this mandated proximity comes down to safety. As one former sampler explained to Mental Floss, "If a kid sees an unattended station with a hot grill running and grabs a sample off of it and burns themselves, it's a liability."

From a food safety perspective, it's also important that samplers have an eye on who's touching and eating what. Should a customer handle something and then put it back on the cart when a sampler is occupied elsewhere, it poses the risk of cross-contamination (and, if it happens on a regular basis, may reflect pretty poorly on the employee). With Costco recently pivoting to more self-service sample kiosks, eliminating the actual humans who enforce these rules is one of the many drawbacks of cutting actual human workers out of the equation.

If nail art's your thing, you probably shouldn't look into working at your local Costco — at least not in some roles. As per those who've worked as Costco samplers with Club Demonstration Services, acrylic nails and nail polish are strictly prohibited on shift. It's not the only outlet to make this move; cute though they may be, colorful long nails also pose a potential food safety risk should they chip or break and end up in someone's food. It goes without saying, but no customer wants to bite into a free sample with a side of nail polish.

Unsurprisingly, coming into work with painted or fake nails is also not permitted for workers in the food court. The same is true of jewelry. A customer potentially biting into a rogue ring or a broken bracelet is just too much of a risk to take. Employees also report other store-specific restrictions to the dress code, such as tattoos, piercings, and dyed hair. These policies often reflect management's personal preferences rather than legitimate safety concerns but can still cause major friction between Costco employees and their respective bosses.