The absurd notice got people thinking about labor laws, unionization, and the ways low-wage workers are consistently taken advantage of.
The absurd notice got people thinking about labor laws, unionization, and the ways low-wage workers are consistently taken advantage of.
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.
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.
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.
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)
I got to do that once, being in a country where we get 5 weeks paid holiday every year. I hadn’t taken any in a year and the boss tried to take the piss so I explained that I wouldn’t be working my notice and left.
That was back in the day when jobs were easy to come by. So I got eight weeks pay the following month.
Company disappeared off the internet three months later.
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.
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.
Fiscally, yes. Staying in a toxic job, even while trying to not give a fuck can be disasterous for mental health.
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.
Fortunately, it is the typical case. It all varies by country and field, but a large fraction of the workforce is either disengaged or actively disengaged in their jobs. They have figured out how to stop worrying and love the bomb.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Eh…it’s not like they’re not requiring you to put in 2 weeks notice, just tell a manager “Fuck you, I quit” at minimum. That’s a pretty low bar. It’s literally just no ghosting. And not like there is any enforcement mechanism assumed anyway, it’s just a sign. Abusive employer situation, sure…no one would judge them and it’s not like they can legally do anything.
They posted a rule that is inconsistent with state and federal law. That’s unethical and I think it should be illegal. Many employees do not understand their rights as workers, and many companies exploit that.
The company could reword things such that the rule is a polite request. Or they could offer their employees contracts. Or they could offer a severance bonus if you give them notice. Those would all be reasonable, and I think contracts would be especially good.
“We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason” is inconsistent with the law as well.
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