Waffle House is being criticized for mandatory deductions from employees' salaries for food.

The union representing Waffle House restaurant workers filed a petition with the Department of Labor on Monday, asking federal officials to investigate the policies of the well-known restaurant chain that deducts mandatory meal costs from employees' wages. According to the petition from the Southern Service Workers Union, Waffle House takes at least $3 from each shift worked by employees, regardless of whether they eat or not. The union called this "particularly concerning," as many workers are paid minimum wage plus tips, "not exceeding $2.90 an hour," not including tips.

Against the company's policy in Georgia

Today, three restaurant employees refused to work for one day, declaring a strike in protest, the Union reported. According to the group, many workers lack the time or desire to eat from the Waffle House menu every shift, and they often continue working without taking their scheduled breaks.

"The company Waffle House withholds the wages of its employees for food that ultimately gets sold to customers at retail price," the petition states. Waffle House did not respond to a request for comment.

Employers are usually allowed to deduct the cost of food for employees, but it must be "at cost" and not generate profit for the company. The amount of $3 will be lower than the menu price at Waffle House, but it will be high if the food is not consumed. In its petition, the Union asked the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division to establish the "actual cost" of the food and to check whether Waffle House is overpaying its employees.

Cindy Smith, a waitress at Waffle House in Conyers, Georgia, told HuffPost that she usually doesn't eat the paid meals. She typically works 30-40 hours a week and has $12-15 deducted from her paycheck for food. Cindy said that along with two other employees at her restaurant, they notified their manager about a one-day strike.

“Why should I pay for food I’m not eating?” asked Cindy, who publicly protested against this policy in the fall. “Waffle House is already taking enough of our earnings.”

Cindy said that employees must pay full price if they want to take food to go, as stated in part of the Waffle House guidelines received by the Union. She also mentioned that employees receive extra pay for "premium" items like steaks and pork chops.

Founded in 1955, Waffle House has around 2,000 restaurants and 40,000 employees in the United States, primarily in the southern and central states.

The USSW union started a petition against meal deductions last year and says that "over 450 self-identified Waffle House workers" have signed it. "While a $3 deduction per shift may seem insignificant, it can have a significant impact on Waffle House workers' ability to support themselves and their families," the union told the Department of Labor. "Like low-wage workers across the South, many Waffle House employees live paycheck to paycheck and lack stable housing and transportation."

USSW is a new division of the Service Employees International Union that was established last year as part of the Fight for $15 campaign, which advocated for strikes in fast food and promoted raising the minimum wage across the country. USSW aims to organize low-wage workers in the restaurant, retail, and healthcare sectors in the South to "change the balance of power between workers and corporations." Waffle House workers who are union members participated in a three-day strike in South Carolina last year, taking to the streets to protest low wages, unsafe conditions, and staff shortages. One worker stated that they "work for pennies and scraps." Cindy has become a passionate supporter of the Waffle House campaign and told HuffPost that she recently handed her manager a "letter of demands," calling for a pay raise, stable work schedules, round-the-clock security, and an end to meal deductions. According to her, a more reasonable system would allow workers to choose whether or not to have meals deducted from their pay instead of it being automatically taken out.