Strip-searched for spare change

Emarat, one of the largest petrol station chains, admits to strip-searching its petrol attendents to check if they have pocketed any tips.

“Body search is part of the procedure and we will continue to do it. However, a supervisor should ask the staff to take off all his clothes only if he is sure that the staff is guilty,” said Abdulla Al Noman, the retail sales operations manager at Emarat.

The random body searches involve checking the socks, belt or cap for any money hidden by the staff. The strip search is done, in private, only if there is strong evidence of cheating against the staff, said Al Noman. The employee is asked to take off his clothes, which are then checked.

The company commits this act of humiliation to its employees, who are paid a pittance as it is, because they are banned from accepting tips from customers. A company spokesman:

“We do not encourage our staff to take tips from customers and we conduct surprise checks to ensure the same."

How kind, now I wonder, when the tips are found, where do they go, hmm?