McDonalds Disciplinary

[OlafLovesAnna]

My 16 yr old had an investigation today today as he missed one shift (didn't know he had it) and was sick for his next one. All his fault and it's his first job so he's finding his feet. When he went to the meeting today he was told he had to attend a disciplinary meeting next week with a more senior staff member and have sanctions from there.

My question is that given he's not in a union is it wise to ask for someone to accompany him to the meeting. The letter says he could also be accompanied by a colleague.

Also, he's on a 0 hours contract, so presumably they could just dismiss him. He doesn't have any mitigating circumstances, he was just disorganised.

He's quite worried about it and would like to know what to expect.

@LongSummers

This is ridiculous on their part - he’s on a 0 hour contract!! A 16 year old doing their A Levels has much more important priorities. Please tell him to resign with immediate effect and no notice and for him to find another job after his A Levels. As PP said, delete from CV.

I completely agree with this.

It's not ridiculous he's 16 so his shifts will be at the busiest times, evenings and weekends. And him not turning up with no notice means they will struggle to cover his shift.
Why shouldn't he be pulled up for that?

Just remind the company that he is still a child

He's old enough to work, he's old enough to follow the company's rules and processes.

This is good experience for him. He's learning about consequences.

@LongSummers

This is ridiculous on their part - he’s on a 0 hour contract!! A 16 year old doing their A Levels has much more important priorities. Please tell him to resign with immediate effect and no notice and for him to find another job after his A Levels. As PP said, delete from CV.

Way to teach him personal responsibility, took a job, didn’t front up for a shift then didn’t comply with policy for the next, meh, quit.

Absolutely do not phone on his behalf. This is a job, not school. They are acting correctly, most zero hour contracts would just never show up again. If he takes it on the chin, apologises and doesn’t do it again, all should be ok. Why did he not know about the shift?
It is good for young people to see ramifications of not behaving the way a company expects.

No way would I let my 16 year old work for a company like that

I'd tell him to go to the meeting but not to stress. If he's sacked, which I very much doubt, then just look for a new job. I wouldn't tell him to resign but that if he isn't happy after the meeting to just leave. It will probably just be a written warning. However if he's really anxious maybe bring someone with him. I had a disciplinary meeting when I worked at sainsburys when I was 16 and my dad came with me, I was sacked though and knew I would be. Good life lesson though,
My dad made me go and face the consequences and I've never made them mistakes or been sacked since

@user1487194234

No way would I let my 16 year old work for a company like that

Then your kid will be unemployed or working for very small businesses who don’t give a shit.

Very few employers of scale will permit a member of staff to just not turn up to work one day then not follow policy for the next day, without moving to disciplinary. They do not have different rules for sixteen year olds.

If you take the job you’re expected to actually turn up. They don’t say well he’s sixteen, it’s hard to remember to go to work, we will let him off.

What are they doing by putting him on 4pm to midnight shifts at 16 anyway?

It’s just about within the letter of the law (although “only if there are no adult workers available to do the work” after 11pm) but I bet he doesn’t finish dead on midnight? Which would definitely breach child employment laws.

McD’s does pay well compared to other employers of 16-17 year olds, but they still pay appreciably less than for 18 or 21 year olds which is why they like employing so many children.

Back to the point of your thread, I agree it’s going to be a first written warning. No biggie - he doesn’t have to ever mention it to future employers and I’m sure his ambition isn’t to work at McD’s for the rest of his life..?

I'd tell him to take it as a learning experience. I doubt he will get sacked, just receive a warning. It will teach him that he has to be diligent in checking for shifts and that he has to follow procedure if he is unwell.

Those on here who say it is a bit much what they are doing, they have these procedures for a reason. Missing shifts or waiting until your start time to say you are not coming in puts strain on those who are there and does not give the manager time to find a replacement.

I have worked in an industry where I’ve managed a lot of young staff. Definitely don’t suggest he quits, ring up, or in any way do anything to make it easier other than being sympathetic.

He is in the wrong - he’s missed two shifts (the lack of notice would mean that was a missed shift not sickness) and he was wrong. Support him to realise that, to accept that he can’t do that to an employer, and to improve for the future. Disciplinary action in most cases is about preventing the behaviour reoccurring.

He won’t be sacked for this unless it’s part of a larger pattern of poor conduct which it doesn’t sound like it is.

Bless him. I worked there at 16 and would have been shitting it if this happened.

I would be very surprised if they sack him but even if they do it’s his first job and presumably he got it without a reference. I would be telling him to be as apologetic as possible and would be proud of him for dealing with it maturely.

@OlafLovesAnna

Thanks so much all. He thinks he's going to write down all his solutions for not making the same mistakes in future.

It's a balancing act with teens isn't it? On one hand as other pp's have said, he's at school he's getting decent grades, he does lots of sport, he doesn't need extra stress and he could start from scratch elsewhere. But, it's a lesson that it's better to learn at 16 than 36 when a lot more hinges on your job.

It does feel rather heavy handed though as he's accepted blame and apologised for his mistakes at this investigatory meeting.

Nephew was pretty much in the same situation , GCSEs and working at McDs. He had a missed a shift and some shift confusion getting his head around there online employee system . He allso had a couple of days ill and insists on doing all the communications himself. Managers initial response was quite stiff and nephew was worried but when he appolagised (email) and explained face to face , it was all fine absolutely no notion of a formal reveiw. He did learn from it though and he is more diligent than ever now.

@user1487194234

No way would I let my 16 year old work for a company like that

Not good enough for your you ???? Your child will get a special job with special rules just for him and if he doesnt like them you'll help him to run away . God help your childs journey through life !

@user1487194234

No way would I let my 16 year old work for a company like that

Why? To be fair to them he's on a zero hour contract and has been with them for less than 2 years, it obviously wouldn't be right but for not showing up to work technically twice they could have just let him go and not allocated him anymore shifts. They're following a process which any other member of staff who works there would be subject to if they did the same, which is fair. I'm not a mcdonalds fan, but for a 16 year old it's a decent job, I'd be proud of my DS if at that age he had a job with them.

Ok have a go if it makes you feel better
Mine didn't work while still at school as I wanted them to focus on exams and only worked in the summer holidays while at Uni,and in intern type jobs relevant to their degrees
Elder 2 have very good jobs in their fields,younger one still at Uni
So not working in Macds and not getting told off there hasn't been detrimental,so you don't need to worry about them

I'd ask him to consider how he ended up missing his first shift - there may be a mitigating factor in there. Was it properly communicated to him? I personally don't think it's fair to take the sickness into account but if that is their policy there isn't much that can be done.

I'd encourage him to go through the process as an important life lesson but at the end of the day it's not going to be the end of the world. In my experience McDonalds will never provide a qualitative reference and will just confirm employment dates, if they respond at all.

Privlage, financal security and choice I can see why you might struggle with the perspective of others.

He doesn’t need a union or a change of manager or his mum to phone in. He just needs to turn up on time every time going forward, as is expected of him. It’s a learning experience and this is the reality of work. He’s apologised so now he can move on. They’ll be following company procedure.

So I’d say as a parent, in his A-level year, phone them-say he’s apologised but any further action is inappropriate.

@MrsWinters Terrible advice. They won’t speak to you, and rightly so. The parent doesn’t work for them, so just like parents can’t ring in sick for them, they can’t speak on behalf of their kids either.

If they’re old enough to have a job they’re capable enough of handling it themselves.

This isn’t a play kitchen, it’s a global business. There is no “it’s just fast food”. As a business it works in the same manner as M&S, your local law firm and Google.

He is being disciplined not for being sick, but for (1) not turning up to his shift and (2) not giving the appropriate amount of notice for his shift.

Both of these have a knock on effect on the other staff, so yes, it is a serious matter and deserving of disciplinary so all the staff know this behaviour isn’t acceptable.

@Bananabutter he’s already had a discussion about it, apologised and it’s a first time ‘offence’ with a previously good record. The matter should be put to bed and if it were an adult employee we would expect as such. As you say, this is more for other employees benefit- so they can see the consequences of missing a shift, and it is inappropriate for a manager to grandstand in such a way.

If it was an adult full time member of staff asking for advice on being called into a disciplinary meeting after missing a shift by accident, having already had a meeting about the shift and having apologised no one would be in any doubt that the firm was over reacting.

Not the case at all @MrsWinters

A standard disciplinary process goes like this:

• Employee accused/observed doing something wrong
• investigation process which can include interviewing witnesses and the accused is done to determine if the employee did something that would meet the criteria of formal action/disciplinary
• disciplinary meeting is held to tell employee the finding of the investigation, get employees response and then come to a conclusion about what action will be taken

This is very much the norm and what all companies should be doing in order to make a fair and transparent process that is consistent for everyone.

@user1471504747
He wouldn't benefit from a trade union in this instance as he hasn't been a member long enough but I mean for the future. Maccy D's were very bad for not having protective clothing and many of their employees got bad oil burns from working the fryers. Guess what made them tighten up ? Unions. See also Maccy D's increased wage rates . Also see other companies using teens as free labour with unpaid trial shifts . Also night working . Trade unions can also offer training courses free for young people . He's a young lad entering the world of work for the first time , they need to learn how to do it safely and legally.
I hope he gets to keep his job, OP and a lesson is learned .

That sounds awful. I work for the company and I would like to think the one I work for wouldn't be that harsh. Should be a warning first always. Definitely get him to bring a colleague in with him who he trusts will be a good ally and also write down what is said.

I'm really surprised at everyone saying how awful it sounds. It's pretty standard to be disciplined for not following the company's procedures.

He missed a shift with no warning or apologies and then didn't phone up in time for his next one. It's absolutely right that he should be disciplined for that whether he's sixteen or sixty.