Is it legal for a business to require employees to lie?

Do people who walk into the store have a right to know that you are recording their demographics? No.

A lie isn't actionable unless it is a lie to a cop, in which case you are interfering with an investigation, or unless it's a lie on the witness stand after you've been sworn in, or unless it's a lie under oath. So, enjoy the lie.

That's interesting, because I get the impression that there would be negative consequences for me were I to tell a customer what we're doing. Is that a federal law or does it change state by state? Google was no help in researching this topic.

I lie at work for my company, but so do the majority of my suppliers.

And who do you work for?

dude, this could be so much fun. jus enter the opposite of what people really are!!

Enter male when they are female. Enter 80+ when they are under 16. Enter under 16 for all the cheap and nasty crap with no taste, enter 50+ for all the so called cool stuff.

Think how hilarious itll be when they star trying to market to the 50+ crowd thinking that is where their demographic is... this is a goldmine of hilarity!!

you just gotta use your imagination.

If they want you to lie. Lie!

Make it up as you go.

It is unbelievable that, that question even need be asked.

It is only true for you if you place the laws of man, over the laws of God!
And don't think that if you do not believe in God etc., that it does not effect you just because you do not believe, God is not a product of your belief.
God's laws are absolute, and the TRUTH is vital in sustaining a living society, lies destroy it. If you value your job and your wage payer over your soul and it's maker... then I am very sorry for you.

The problem with demographics this way is that if they sell their data, most of which is most likely not going to be accurate (do to the employee pushing just any buttons to get the line to go faster without much thought or guessing wrong) then the data collectors sell this flawed info to websites to get a profile on a worker, babysitter, contract, friend, fiance, etc...that may be flawed if that person ever figures out why they weren't hired or were maligned in some way, they would every right to sue for libel. The problem is most will never know what or why something happened.

You're credit report may contain errors and they are supposed to be tracking correctly, imagine someone getting paid minimum wage who hates his job doing this.

The store where I work has recently implemented a new system for profiling our customers. Whenever somebody checks out, a screen pops up on our register asking us to enter customer information. They want to know basically the customers age, sex, and whether they're local or a tourist. We have a set of bar codes to scan which allow us to quickly enter each of these options during checkout.

Much of this is guess-work on my part, because under no circumstances am I allowed to ask the customers for any of this information. Which is good, because I wouldn't be comfortable asking for all this personal information anyway. But the company is extremely concerned about the customers discovering what we're doing, as we've been instructed to flat out lie if they notice that we're scanning something other than their purchases. If questioned by a customer, I have been told to give the "standard explanation" that I am entering my employee data. In other words, I'm supposed to tell them that I'm punching in my numbers to make sure I get credit for the sale. The customers are NEVER supposed to be told what we're actually doing. One of the e-mails we got from corporate says that they want feedback on customer reaction, and in parenthesis, they add "hopefully they won't notice."

So, is it legal for my employers to flat out demand that I lie to customers if one of them questions what I'm scanning? They obviously feel like it will look bad to customers. Is there any action I can/should take? I feel like if the company is that worried about this, maybe we shouldn't be doing it.

Thought on this a bit more.

Here's what you do OP:

Find an older friend or relative, one who hasn't been to your store before and who the other staff doesn't know. Have them browse around the store a while (preferably on your day off), and then get into line. When they get anywhere near the cash, have them demand to speak to the manager.

When the manager shows up, your friend will say the following:

"Excuse me, but I couldn't help notice you seem to be collecting information every time someone makes a purchase. I see they have a list of barcodes they scan, but never the same one twice. I asked several different employees what this information was for, and they tell me it's their employee numbers being logged. Now look, I've managed several retail locations, and I know you are collecting statistics and furthermore having your staff mislead customers about it. I demand to know what information you are collecting, and furthermore, what the fuck gives you the right to lie to me about it? I'm going to the Better Business Bureau about this."

OP, I'd be at least that pissed off if I actually shopped there. I'd do this for you myself if I lived nearby.

The store where I work has recently implemented a new system for profiling our customers. Whenever somebody checks out, a screen pops up on our register asking us to enter customer information. They want to know basically the customers age, sex, and whether they're local or a tourist. We have a set of bar codes to scan which allow us to quickly enter each of these options during checkout.

Much of this is guess-work on my part, because under no circumstances am I allowed to ask the customers for any of this information. Which is good, because I wouldn't be comfortable asking for all this personal information anyway. But the company is extremely concerned about the customers discovering what we're doing, as we've been instructed to flat out lie if they notice that we're scanning something other than their purchases. If questioned by a customer, I have been told to give the "standard explanation" that I am entering my employee data. In other words, I'm supposed to tell them that I'm punching in my numbers to make sure I get credit for the sale. The customers are NEVER supposed to be told what we're actually doing. One of the e-mails we got from corporate says that they want feedback on customer reaction, and in parenthesis, they add "hopefully they won't notice."

So, is it legal for my employers to flat out demand that I lie to customers if one of them questions what I'm scanning? They obviously feel like it will look bad to customers. Is there any action I can/should take? I feel like if the company is that worried about this, maybe we shouldn't be doing it.