Should a mcdonalds employee lose their job over something like this?

1. 0

   Stevennix2001posted 11 years ago

   According to young turks, a mcdonald's employee decides to help pay for a bunch of fire fighters to eat McDonald's for free after a long day's work.  Take in mind, nobody asked her to do this, but she did it out of the kindness of her heart.  Anyways, the fire fighters got wind her paying for their meal out of pocket, and misunderstood the situation thinking that her boss forced her to pay out of her own pocket for their meals, so they talk to the manager about it.  How does the manager react? He fires her.  End of story.  If you want to know the full story, then please click on the link below:
   
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fna-in5vkgs
   
   Assuming you watched the link, what are your thoughts on this?  Who's in the wrong here?  and if you were the girl's manager, then how would YOU have handled it?

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   1. 81

      Patty Inglish, MSposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I reviewed the video and read the news article linked to the YouTube vid.
      
      I was a McD mgr for several years -- In my state, if the worker wanted to pay for the firefighter's meals, she would only have had to walk to the other side of the counter and asked another worker to ring the orders and accept the cash (and we trained workers in that policy). Ringing up an order yourself and paying for it at your own cash drawer on your own side of the counter is/was against company policy, because it may be a cover for theft -- One worker seemed to be putting money into her drawer but was actually removing money and the store lost $400, leading to the policy of having someone else ring and accept the money. Two employees might work together in even that way to steal, but it never happened to us.
      
      Our regional policy was also to provide free meals to any city police officer at any time, but not to the fire department or State Highway Patrol. The state officers were not permitted by state policy to accept and I don't know the reason for excluding firefighters.
      
      I would bet that the company authorities did not like the worker asking for free food for the firefighters and considered the expense exorbitant, even if readers consider it small. If company authorities have a policy against asking for free food for any customers, then it should be in writing, imo.

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         wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         There was an additional problem that the manager had already been told "No".  Then proceeded to do it anyway, and whether it was from her pocket or not it put McD's in a bad light.  If from her pocket, then McD's looks like a cheap piker, if not known them McD's will be expected to repeat it in the future.
         
         So disciplinary action was taken.  It seems stiff and it seems out of line, but it's kind of hard to argue with direct disobedience to orders.

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            Patty Inglish, MSposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I agree, but I don't see that the specific NY McD region or franchise group had a written policy, or any training in place about the matter, or that the fired worker received a clear explanation about the "No." This leads to workers going off on their own - sometimes giving the food free without ringing anything or collecting any money (theft), because McD is "so big they can afford it" - as we learned in Ohio long ago.
            
            Rules about cash handling and promotional food give always need to be in writing; but, since New York is an at-will employment state the last time I looked that info up, their McD need not give any reason at all to fire her.
            
            In Ohio, she would have been fired. She'd have no legal recourse since the policy is in writing, and she'd be denied Unemployment Compensation, because she was fired for cause. If she had given the food without any cash collected, she could have been charged with a crime as well. Currently, some Ohio franchise owners have successful pressed charges against workers who took a large amount of officially thrown away ("wasted") burgers home.

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               wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Maybe I misread something, but I thought she asked for permission and was told not to do it.  No writing necessary, no employee handbook needed, just a clear "No" from her boss.  Which she got. 
               
               So she was fired, not for stealing or for giving away free food, but for disobeying instructions.  As I read it, anyway - there is almost always more to these things than is reported.  It must be made newsworthy, after all, and truth and completeness always takes a back seat to sensationalism.

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               1. 81

                  Patty Inglish, MSposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  I'm surely inserting my own experiences - Ohio stores I know about would  focus on the cash handling/giveaway aspect and bring charges.
                  
                  There's a 400+% turnover in fast food and often this is for noncompliance. A "No" without an explanation (and even with explanation) can cause a lot of problems in the workplace, but that willful employee should be disciplined, as you say. I would have fired her, but I would have had my documentation and training in place, avoiding a lot of this sort of drama and avoiding rises in UI premiums with each such payout.
                  
                  I agree that workers who do not follow rules hurt business and, in fact, this is one of the top reasons employees are fired (I've written Hubs about that).

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2. 68

   psycheskinnerposted 11 years ago

   The impulse was nice, but you do need to follow rules and orders in a job.

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   1. 81

      Patty Inglish, MSposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      +1

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