There’s nothing more satisfying than leaving a toxic workplace with little to no notice, but one McDonald’s restaurant has made it clear that they won’t allow such a thing to happen. Yahoo! reports that McDonald’s is sparking a wave of outrage after one of its restaurants posted a “no-quit” notice in an effort to maintain employee retention.
A sign hung in a McDonald’s franchise seems to tell employees that they are not allowed to quit without notice.
Though such an egregious act of keeping an employee on the payroll against their will is probably not a corporate initiative (because it’s illegal), it does raise a number of questions about the concept of at-will employment now that the notice has gone viral.
As many of us have experienced throughout our careers, the concept of at-will employment is a simple one. At-will employment, which is a standard practice in every state except for Montana, stipulates that an employer can terminate your contract at-will and without notice, so long as they are not practicing illegal discrimination practices.
The prevailing sentiment about this McDonald’s sign is that there is nothing an employer could do to make you stay at a job that you no longer find worth your time.
But at-will employment goes both ways, meaning that McDonald’s employees (or any other employee, for that matter) are free to leave without notice should they find a compelling enough reason to not return to work.
The sign, which includes a McDonald’s logo on top and looks official, states “because we feel that many situations can be resolved, it is the policy of the restaurant that an employee cannot quit until he or she talks to the Restaurant Manager or the Area Supervisor.”
Given the employment laws, and the fact that this sign appears to be localized to one individual franchise, it doesn’t appear that McDonald’s is implementing such an audacious policy on a national, or global level. What we’re witnessing is potentially the stationary of a single manager or franchise owner who is running out of ways to prevent such a high employee turnover rate.
While internet outrage is often hyperbolic and hysterical by nature, it’s hard to fault the very vocal critics of this supposed policy, many of which have aired their grievances on Reddit. The prevailing sentiment about this McDonald’s sign is that there is nothing an employer could do to make you stay at a job that you no longer find worth your time.
Some users actually see the McDonald’s no-quit policy as a well-intended gesture that was executed poorly, suggesting that management isn’t forcing their employees to stay, but rather trying to see if there is anything they can do better to keep them staffed.
While internet outrage is often hyperbolic and hysterical by nature, it’s hard to fault the very vocal critics of this supposed policy, many of which have aired their grievances on Reddit.
In other words, the language is ambiguous enough for some people to think that the sign is merely asking for the courtesy of an exit interview, even though the wording comes off as aggressive to others.
At the end of the day, if an employee has decided that they don’t like their pay, working conditions, or company culture, then that should be the end of the story. If a company like McDonald’s is able to fire their employees without prior notice, then it’s well within an employee’s right to similarly remove themselves from their position without conflict.
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