1 yr. ago • 98%

'No-Quit' Notice In McDonald's Forbidding Employees From Quitting Sparks Angry Debate About 'At Will' Employment

www.yahoo.com 'No-Quit' Notice In McDonald's Forbidding Employees From Quitting Sparks Angry Debate About 'At Will' Employment

The absurd notice got people thinking about labor laws, unionization, and the ways low-wage workers are consistently taken advantage of.

62 comments

As long as employment is at will, I will say fuck you to employers as quickly as they say fuck you to me. That's the way it works. You want loyalty, show some in return.

75
- This sign merely stipulates that you have to say "fuck you" to a manager before you leave.
  
  19
  
  Not just say. Freaking exclaim it and preferably on PA system.
  
  8
- When I was younger and worked a job in the summer right before going back to college, a manager thought it was a good idea to be an asshole for no reason to me
  
  I endured until break and just never came back. See ya
  
  10
  
  You should never have had to endure that in the first place though! Amurica needs workers rights now! Note that the misspelling is intentional because this is a place I stay in. There's no living or thriving in Amurica unless you're wealthy.
  
  0
- Specifically in the form of money.
  
  9
"You know the worst thing about being a slave? They make you work all day, but they don't pay you or let you go."

-- Philip J. Fry

58
- That’s the only thing about being a slave.
  
  19
It's kinda funny, and I laughed.

It's also shit journalism — the article doesn't say what McDonald's posted this sign or enacted this policy. Maybe some McDonald's did, but when there's no attempt at sniffing out a who - what - where - why - when, it's piffle.

Any schmoe anywhere could've made the sign using Microsoft Paint.

The article is a laugh, but it isn't news until someone says where it happened..

47
- Did you really expect much more from a yahoo article?
  
  2
Does this include a clause in the employment contract that McDonalds will never fire you without a "meeting to resolve the issue" first? Oh, these employees don't have a contract at all, you say? How interesting.

42
I wonder what their recourse is if someone doesn't follow the policy. 🤔

42
- Fire them probably.
  
  28
  
  It's like quiting, but with extra steps.
  
  19
  
  Oh boy, free unemployment checks. Whatever will I do now without my Mcbucks
  
  5
- Termination
  
  0
  
  3
Others have touched on this, but isn’t this a good thing? You should NEVER quit without recourse - it makes you ineligible for unemployment. Scenarios:

you want to leave, you tell your manager, they resolve the issue, you stay and are happier

you want to leave, you tell your manager, they don’t resolve the issue, you engage in getting fired, you get fired, you file for unemployment

you want to leave, you tell your manager, they don’t resolve the issue, you engage in getting fired, you don’t get fired, you collect wages for little/no work while job hunting

you want to leave, you don’t tell your manager, you engage in getting fired, you get fired, you file for unemployment

you want to leave, you don’t tell your manager, you engage in getting fired, you don’t get fired, you collect wages for little/no work while job hunting

you quit, you get nothing

It’s like a weird game theory problem, but IMO quitting is the WORST choice. Sure, the employer could challenge the unemployment claim, but many don’t, and those who do don’t typically win.
24
- Quitting with no notice is one of the funniest stunts you can pull on a bad manager and I will not hear a word said against it.
  
  23
  
  You want two week's notice? Here's your two week's notice: In two weeks you'll notice I haven't been here for two weeks.
  
  17
  
  Even funner is getting your vacation approved, then turning in your notice. Thanks for letting me not even be here (they weren't going to pay out that vacay)
  
  6
  
  Right. I think the above commenter was talking about a situation where you need the money. But as you pointed out, if you don't need the money, or if you have another job starting tomorrow, then there's no issue with bailing ASAP. It can also be therapeutic for you and entertaining for coworkers.
  
  2
  
  I got to "fuck you, I quit" a guy who then laughed it off. Two weeks later he wanted to know why I was emptying my tool box on a Friday afternoon. Already did the paperwork with HR on "fuck you" day, never seen someone so stunned in my life.
  
  2
- Fiscally, yes. Staying in a toxic job, even while trying to not give a fuck can be disasterous for mental health.
  
  20
  
  Man… ain’t that the truth. My hope is that people can adopt sort of a cold abstraction from the situation. I know realistically, that’s not the typical case.
  
  1
- This sign is not a good thing.
  
  It's meant to confuse employees regarding their rights and to make them think that their employer has all the power in the relationship dynamic. If people are afraid to quit, they won't assert themselves.
  
  I can't read the rest of the sign but it's possible that McDonald's are trying to suggest that if an employee quits then they have to pay back a portion of their wages or some other kind of retaliatory/intimidation tactic. It wouldn't hold up in court but the purpose is to keep your employees under your heel. How many minimum wage employees have a lawyer on retainer? How many know that you can contact your states labor board about this sort of thing. Keep employees uneducated and confused about their rights and they can't fight back.
  
  14
- While in principal I agree with you completely, quitting is often the least beneficial route to leaving a job. Allowing employers to get away with basically saying blatantly illegal shit to their employees to scare them into accepting terrible conditions is extremely detrimental. "dont quit" should always be accompanied by, "make them fire you."
  
  McDonalds didn't post this sign to make sure more employees take advantage of the benefits of being fired over quitting. They posted it to scare uninformed workers into accepting abusive conditions and remuneration.
  
  8
- While all that is true, not letting people leave is involuntary servitude, and only the government can do it, and even then only through due process. You have a right to leave your job right now. You can talk to your manager of you want to, but you don't have to do any more work for them.
  
  6
- Honestly this "policy" seems more like no ghosting than no quitting. The notion that you have to tell your manager that you won't be back seems pretty dang reasonable. I don't know what the consequences are or how they plan to enforce it though so we don't have enough information to make a call really.
  
  0
  
  No, the notion that you have to tell your manager won't be back is not reasonable. In reality, most people would want to tell their employers because it makes practical sense. But there are situations every day where people need to drop that job and go do something else. It could be an abusive or violent employer, a death in the family, a health issue, an unexpected move to Timbuktu, whatever. We should let people use their own best judgment, because the simple solution is for the employer to just stop paying them and move on with life.
  
  Fortunately, this is also what the law says in most places.
  
  1
  
  They should offer an incentive not a threat 'if you plan on quitting then talk to a manager, he'll help you develop an exit strategy and sign you up for a thank you gift of some free burgers accredited to your app...'
  
  It's still bullshit but it's not such abusive bullshit that modern workers seem to be getting used to
  
  0
What’s stopping me from just not showing up?

21
- Do you know why many American police departments were originally founded? We'll just go back to that system.
  
  33
  
  The police will come by and wellness check 16 bullets into your back
  
  18
  
  I will go down in the blaze of glory if it mean police interaction. I will be a martyr.
  
  4
- That is a form of quitting and is forbidden. Didn’t you read the sign?
  
  12
  
  Can I clock in & then just leave?
  
  It’s technically not quitting. I’d just show up each day, clock in, then fuck off & go bowling.
  
  They’d probably fire me, but would they still have to pay me for the time I was on the clock?
  
  9
- Best-case scenario? The ACLU picks up your case
  
  3
If you quit with no notice, do they fire you or something?

9
- They stone you with the day-old, rock hard apple pies.
  
  7
I worked as a server in early 00’s. I fought to not be a manager but I did everything else in the restaurant might as well do that too. Did it. Quit in 6 months. Took the skills and never looked back.

Food service is a shit industry. Why have it?

7
- Money.
  
  2
If any one ever sees a sign like this reach out to your local DOL, signs like this are illegal and at the very least entirely unenforceable. 'At Will' applies to the employee too and all this is is a way to scare the uninformed. You are more important than any job you'll ever have or any company you'll ever work for. You owe them nothing, know your rights.

3
The flip side of this, I’m surprised McDonalds hasn’t issued a statement or taken action to mitigate this PR disaster and potential lawsuits.

3
That just means the employees can leave on vacation without approval for few months, come back and still be employed 😂

3
That's literally slavery.

2
Uh, how would they enforce such a policy? Would they fire you for quitting?

1

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