It is actually normal in the US to pay for transactions like ATM withdrawals so the issue is not really that though the cost of over the counter withdraws seems a deliberate attempt at a rip off.
It is whether or not you can be paid in a way you don't have to go via a fee levying institution to get at your cash that is the issue.
If the employee had her wages paid into any US bank she couldn't get at the cash for free.
In the UK we get "free banking" so a McDonalds franchisee paying wages into your current account wouldn't be an issue.
However it might become one if "free banking" in the UK disappears especially if you are compelled to have wages or pensions paid electronically into a bank account.
Don't UK state pensions have to be paid electronically these days?
If you don't have a suitable bank account don't they have to go into a special Post Office Card account provided specifically for the purpose?
Do we have any guarantee if the Post Office is privatised pensioners wouldn't find withdrawal fees imposed?