AIBU to suggest my child quits a zero-hours fast food job?

I would encourage them to keep the job but be looking for others.

And you wonder why she's not getting hours?

She's only going 2 bloody hours. Can't get much more minimum than that

Weird My DS took a zero hours job at McDonald's and was getting at least 5 shifts a week within a fortnight

A 2 hour job a week isn’t a job though. They’d be better off volunteering and getting some experience while still looking for better opportunities.

Why are so many people saying 'she' when the OP has done the 'they' 'them' Olympics all the way through??

Either way OP, your DC is an adult according to you and can quit if they want to without your say so.

I wouldn't encourage them to quit and go on the dole though.

I can't see how that would help their mental health?

And claim JSA?

Suicidal thoughts as a result of a horrible 2 hour shift every week is clearly ridiculous- if she is genuinely feeling that way then there must be something more to it.

i’d stop challenging the manager for starters - she might be correct but it’s clearly not going to go down well and is just making her life harder.

the alternative if she finds a job in a nearby town or city that gives her enough hours that she can afford to move out if there’s few prospects locally

Not true. My son has found 2 jobs pretty quickly since he finished uni and wasn’t working already.

Hopefully exploitative one way zero hours contracts will soon be brought to an end.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/end-of-exploitative-zero-hours-contracts-to-give-people-security-and-predictability-at-work

Its a tough one. Is it just the job causing poor mental health or is there more to it? I only ask because not working can also be really bad for mental health. Humans are designed to have a purpose and without that it is easy to lose confidence and motivation, which can be a downward spiral. Ultimately they really need to find another job.

Have you checked whether they are entitled to any benefits while working as it is such a small number of hours/wage? That might improve things a little at least.

Honestly, no manager is going to love being called out by a junior member of staff however right they are. That is probably why they aren't getting more hours. Doesn't make it right but that's the realities of the workplace sadly.

It's a no-brainer. Job affecting mental health negatively - quit. End of. This person is young.

Ahh the snowflake generation. Yes, have your daughter quit and become yet another leach on the taxpayer while she applies for her dream job. And there’ll be something wrong there too and she can quit that too.

Alternatively tell her to suck it up, learn some resilience and who knows, it might motivate her to do something with her life and not have to work at McDonalds for the rest of her life.

I would encourage my DC to quit a job like this. I'd tell them that at this stage of life, they are better off developing skillsets like confidence, self-worth and resilience, which don't have to be learned in a soul-destroying work environment. no hours or 2-4 hours a week is pointless. Better off starting up a small business of their own, learning how to manage a website, market their goods or services, basic accounting etc. They can't earn less than they do on zero hours per week, but they'd gain a lot more experience.

If your kid wants to die because of their job then obviously they leave.

She will get the reference from them. Quitting doesn’t mean flouncing it is something that young people do often. You don’t have to be in the job to get the reference. She can explain the gap by saying she went travelling or took time to look after her family member. It’s not hard.

Hospitality and Retail are terrible for this zero hour / very part-time contract working. It supports their disorganised approach to rotas and keeping hours at an absolute minimum. Its going to get worse now NMW has increased too. The targets individual shops are set are crazy and likely not enough hours to run what is needed, horrible environment for the managers and the staff.

That being said, perhaps its time to look around for something else, but not quitting until they have something lined up.

It's really not that easy and depends where you are. Most summer vacancies will already be filled.

I wouldn't quit physically but I would check out of it mentally. Do a minimum number of shifts and try everything to find another job.
Saying that she is available after the summer holidays is a good selling point and currently being in a job and having a reference is better than not.

But if the job is very poor for mental health, then quit.

It's very hard to get a job now so I wouldn't quit-nothing wrong with looking for others though. I'd tend not to get involved, once your child is old enough to get a job, let them decide for themselves. Apart from anything else, they can blame you if they think doing what you've said has a negative impact, and they can get used to be reliant on doing what you say all the time.

Quit. Without hesitation.

There will be plenty of hospitality jobs available over the summer. Look for outside catering companies, hotels etc..

DD had a zero hours contract in a retail shop at uni. Mostly she got 0, or 4 hours, sometimes 8, a week. Nearly all the staff were on zero hours and they all wanted more hours but the store just recruited more staff, so no one generally got a lot more than 4 -8 hours/week.
She commuted over christmas 1.5 hrs each way to do 4 hour shifts....so not sure work ethic/effort really counts for a lot, in those kind of set ups

I would add she wanted something with contracted hours and had retail experience but that was all she could find (applied for probably 60+ jobs)