Son (17 yrs old) received investigation letter for gross misconduct

[JustV]

My son has started working at the end of October 2025. He was really happy, exited and really liked his job. However, be was suspended today (after he finished his shift) and was given letter for investigation meeting, gross misconduct.
Allegations are: abuse or failure to follow any of the company's policies or procedures also insubordination and failure to obey instructions or perform work as required or defined. Only 2 incidents mentioned. No evidence provided. He cooked 8 meats instead of 6 and 4 pattys instead of 2. I can't see this as gross misconduct. It wasn't mentioned what specific policy/ procedure he breached. It was second time he was cooking pattys. No previous worning given. I find this to harsh. He is new in a very quick phased job, he follows instructions and listens to his mangers and if this happened it was genuine mistake. How we should approach this? His wasn't properly trained, no clear communication (one manager says this another something else), no warning given, he needs to work quickly and sometimes he hasn't got enough time to think.

My son works as a chef and he’s worked with some awful managers that treat their staff so badly. He’s walked out of a few jobs over the years but thankfully appears to have calmed down now! My daughter worked in McDs for 20 years after working her way up from a part time job to a manager. She was absolutely broken when she left and she said the whole culture was toxic with bullying managers and franchisees that expect the impossible. She’s a different person now and so much happier. I’m sorry this has happened to your son - especially in his first job but he’s honestly better off out of there and looking for another job.

He can fight this and possibly he could win, but boy will his life be miserable. I would suggest he resigns and avoids fast paced positions in the future.

Omg just have him quit!

Its only a first job at mcdonalds. They probably dont like him and need a reason to let him go

Just be thankful that he wont turn into a grown man who manages at mcdonalds and uses his position to accuse children of gross misconduct over some burger patties!!

Tell him you love him and that he is too good for this !

Yabu to even be considering taking this letter seriously. He needs to find another job and laugh about this with his mates

Gross misconduct at mcdonalds 😭, that manager is a twat!

I knew before @JustV said it, it would be McDonald's. They take no shit from employees, particularly teenagers, who are key culprits in giving out free food to mates.

One incidence of it, and you're out.

It's a very good lesson to learn at a young age. Don't FAFO. Follow the rules to the letter.

It's not the manager. It's their standard policy to stop teenagers giving mates free food.

He can't 'win'. He's only been there two months so they can get rid of him for whatever reason they want. They don't have to prove anything.

I suspect he's not telling the OP the whole story and he knows exactly why they want him gone.

This just doesnt matter 😭😭 - it really doesnt

Free this kid, tell him to try for primark or something, he won't die from being forced to resign from mcdonalds for

gross misconduct

I said those exact words to the hairdressing salon I worked in as a junior when I was 16, " take the job and shove it up your arse " was halfway up the street when i realised i had left my handbag so flounced back in and got it 😂

Does he really want to work for a company that treats new employees like this? I would be telling them where they could stick their job and walking away.

McDonald's is well known to have ongoing problems with bullying young staff. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c75ngl49695o
Apparently they now have an internal complaints handling unit, should your son want to complain about his manager.

For his sanity he should quit and find a job elsewhere, as it'll only get more stressful and horrible. Apparently other fast food chains are a bit better.

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/media-centre/news/equality-regulator-extends-agreement-mcdonalds-prevent-sexual-harassment it's not just sexual harassment McDonald's have problems with, it's been going on for years.

@JustV tell your kid to chuck a burger at the managers head

It'll make him a legend among his mates
It'll feel good
It'll teach him that noone has the right to bully you. Let alone a manager at mcdonalds who harasses 17 year olds

I'm joking, and can joke because I did my time at mcdonalds as a kid and had managers being bullies too. They were just angry that I was going to uni 😭😭

This thread has triggered and tickled me. The things I put up with when i was 17, omg.

It certainly doesn't sound like gross misconduct. If he doesn't belong to a union he should join one simply so the company's poor behaviour - in suggesting it is gross misconduct - is formally logged with their higher management, and also to make sure they will provide a basic 'yes he worked here' reference.

It sounds like he wasn't following instructions and they don't think he's up to the job and plan to let him go. Not much to do about that - he's only 17 and has plenty of time to learn, so suggests he goes to the meeting, takes notes, finds another job and takes any learning points with him.

If he was enjoying the job my guess would be he was chatting and perhaps mucking about a bit too much, rather than focusing on learning the gig, but see what he thinks was the issue after the meeting.

If I was him I'd resign so he's not been sacked, there are plenty of job applications that say have you ever been dismissed from a job etc. Much easier to be able to say with truth that you haven't. I had one which didn't work for me, they suddenly started to try to get rid just before two years, I was gutted to lose it but a few weeks later was in a job I loved.

At 17, I'd just walk away, not worth the bother, get a job elsewhere. I had similar agro at Waitrose, which was my first job - I simply didn't turn up again - went and got a job at M&S instead and stayed there almost 3 years.

At 17 he doesn't need to worry about his CV/ references etc, he can just move on.

Has he done hot food training, food safety, allergy training. If under 18 a person needs to be fully trained in the use of commercial ovens. Find out everything you can and see if you can report them. Is it ones of the "Big ones"?

If DC wanted me to, I would accompany them to the meeting.

I'd absolutely fucking bollock them if they are being as ridiculous as they sound. If it's McDonalds I'd take it higher, not to keep him his job but so they know what a bunch of wankers work at that particular branch, should they want to take it further.

Unfortunately lots of places have management staff that like to treat young workers like crap.
If he has the meeting and is let go, let him him look for a new job.
But if he is kept on and the ridiculous carry on continues, tell him to leave.

Sounds like he got mixed up over numbers because he was working fast and not properly trained. The company sounds harsh, blaming rather than taking responsibility for their own shortcomings. Dont put it on CV and move on and get a job with better training and nicer supervisors.

Unfortunately this is how a lot of businesses treat young people. My eldest was treated very similarly by a large clothing retailer at that age, the retailer's name being also a pretty good summary of their staff turnover. Chalk it up to experience would be my suggestion

I'd suggest he resigns and looks for another job.

Brother had a new bullying manager come in after covid in care sector - he needed the job so stayed when others left - got accused with another employee of gross misconductor - huge stress but with family help he put together a case proving he hadn't done anything wrong - he'd followed procures as laid out.

They didn't care - not really issued written warning to them both. Kept his job but the manager upper her game - and his health became extremnely bad and NHS spent some money trying to work out what was wrong. In end he quit - with a week his health had improved depsite money worries. The manger lost all teh long term staff - as she had in previous position and they struggled to recuit. He can't be a bad worker as current work place keep pushing him to have more responblity and move up.

Jobs I had as teen they always promised training never happend but they'd still expect you do know the procedures - they might shout but never took it further.

Either the company is being ridiculously heavy handed with him or there's a lot more to this story than he's telling you. TBH I'd suspect the latter. Either way I'm not sure why the heck he'd want to carry on working there. Tell him it's good that he's learning a bit about the way of the land when he's young and has minimal responsibilities rather than when he's 40 and has kids and a mortgage. What else is he doing with his life? Maybe this is a sign that he might benefit from taking a bit more time to mature and maybe go to college/find an apprenticeship. If not I'd be hot on his case to find another job.

Does he work for a Franchise of a well known American chain which has their own stores as well as Franchised ones? If so, is the Franchise store he works for run by a woman who is the daughter of the Franchise owner?

If so, he won’t stand a chance in defending himself as the daughter is a piece of work.

He would be better off resigning and finding another job.

Are you absolutely sure your son is telling the whole truth?

We have a lot of employment protection in the uk. It takes a lot to get a gross misconduct allegation to stick, i suspect there is far more to this than you are aware of.

The name is going to drive me mad trying to think of it now! A shop whose name reflects quick turnover