Working at McDonald's might not seem like a glamorous job. The pay isn't high, the hours
are long, and you're on your feet all day. What you might not know, however, is that
Micky D's has some pretty weird rules that employees must follow, or risk being fired.
Many McDonald's are open 24-hours for drive-thru service, but most close their dining rooms
to the public late at night. This allows the restaurants to run a skeleton crew and sufficiently
clean and prep the interiors for the morning rush. Once the interior is closed, it is closed.
McDonald's employees aren't supposed to let anyone in — even paying customers who just
want to use the bathroom.
Part of the challenge is in keeping the bathrooms clean with just a few employees on the clock,
but part is also a safety issue. Store managers don't want people coming in and out, especially
when there aren't many customers, because it leaves the store at risk for burglaries.
This rule made national headlines in 2011 when a 7-year McDonald's crew member got fired
after making an exception for NFL Pro Bowl running back Adrian Peterson. According to
an article in Inc., the McDonald's employee initially turned down the Minnesota Viking's
request to use the bathroom. However, after Peterson revealed who he was, the employee
went ahead and let him in. Unfortunately, when the employee showed up to work the next
day, she was fired for breaking the rule.
There is a happy ending to this story, however. After the media caught wind of her firing
and it started to make headlines, the employee was quickly rehired.
Be honest — you hope the people handling your food at McDonald's are washing their
hands frequently. But you may not realize that McDonald's staff policies require employees
to wash their hands at least once an hour with antimicrobial soap, and in some countries,
at least once every 30 minutes.
"So that's like, 2 seconds per finger."
"I guess you can say that."
It's not clear why this rule varies country-to-country. But in the United Arab Emirates, the standard
is at least once an hour, while in Great Britain, it's at least every 30 minutes.
If that has you wondering what the rule is in the United States, you're not alone. Sadly,
there doesn't seem to be a standard guideline that all United States McDonald's employees
are told to follow. In a subreddit group titled "McLounge," which is dedicated to McDonald's
employees, a question was posed about updated hygiene standards related to the 2020 coronavirus
pandemic.
Answers from different employees varied from changing gloves after every customer, using
hand sanitizer after every customer, washing hands every 15 minutes, washing hands every
30 minutes, or some combination thereof. The good news is, it appears personal hygiene
is strictly enforced. The bad news is, it's not 100 percent clear what the hygiene standards
are.
For any Generation X child reminiscing about childhood birthday parties at McDonald's,
it probably goes without saying that Ronald McDonald most likely plays a significant role
in those memories.
"Hi! How are you?"
"Ronald?"
And while the bigger-than-life clown has gradually faded from public view, with articles referencing
his slow demise dating back to the early 2000s, his character was so well known that in the
1970s that the company hired a, quote, "Boss Clown" whose sole responsibility it was to
hire and train the men who donned the big shoes and bright wig.
The first "Boss Clown," Aye Jaye, penned a book titled Ronald and How. This book detailed
a slew of rules that all Ronald McDonald actors must strictly abide by — most of which are
still enforced today. One such rule is that actors must maintain the illusion that Ronald
is, in fact, real. As such, these actors can only respond to the name Ronald McDonald while
in costume.
It's pretty standard practice that restaurant employees aren't supposed to give away free
food. But some restaurants have exceptions, like offering a free coffee to police officers
or other first responders. McDonald's is not one of those restaurants. Okay, so very occasionally
they'll offer a company-wide exception, like in April and May 2020, when they offered free
"Thank You Meals" to healthcare workers and first responders in light of the COVID-19
pandemic.
But generally, McDonald's enforces the "no food rule" rigidly and without exception,
with those who dare to break the rule facing the potential of immediate firing. Take, for
instance, an example cited in Dutch Daily News, in which a McDonald's employee was fired
after giving a colleague an extra slice of cheese on her hamburger without charging for
the slice.
Ultimately, the fired employee took McDonald's to court and won a small settlement, with
the Dutch judge stating that termination was too harsh an outcome for such a slight offense.
So while firing might be off the table for giving away a slice of cheese, if you have
friends who work at McDonald's, don't expect any freebies while they're on shift — management
clearly takes all types of corporate theft very, very seriously.
It's late, maybe you're a little drunk, and you're hungry. There's a Mickey D's right
around the corner, and because you know better than to drive while under the influence, why
not just walk through the drive-thru to order a burger, some fries and a milkshake? Well,
there's a rule against that. Chances are if you try to walk through the drive-thru, you'll
be turned away.
"Hi, good morning."
"Kayla, this is not a walk-thru, it's a drive-thru."
According to the McDonald's website, crew members are not supposed to serve pedestrians
at the same point where they serve vehicles. Apparently, it's for safety reasons, which
when you think about it, makes sense. If a car is pulling up to a drive-thru late at
night and doesn't see someone standing in the drive-thru lane, it's an accident waiting
to happen.
That said, the website also notes that they're aware of pedestrians' desire for late-night
grub-fests, and as such, have installed some pedestrian walk-up windows at restaurants
that operate 24-hour drive-thrus. That way, when the dining room is closed for the night,
but the drive-thru is still open, you may still be able to order your Chicken McNuggets
and Quarter Pounder if you're so inclined.
According to a 2019 article in Mental Floss, there are more than 36,000 sets of Golden
Arches worldwide, staffed by more than 2 million McDonald's employees. For any food corporation
that has that many restaurants and that many employees, it's absolutely essential to figure
out how to effectively deliver consistency to customers who expect every McDonald's hamburger
to taste exactly the same, regardless of location.
One of the ways McDonald's does this is with strict enforcement of food construction — every
ingredient must be added in the exact order described by McDonald's corporate office.
In the Mental Floss article, one department manager explains that meats, cheeses, and
sauces must be arranged in a specific order, and failing to do so can make a big difference
in customer satisfaction.
For instance, if the cheese isn't placed between the two burger patties in a McDouble, the
cheese won't melt, which more-or-less ruins the perfect McDouble experience. That said,
people who aren't good at paying attention to detail may struggle to keep their jobs
at McDonald's.
The whole point of hitting the drive-thru at McDonald's is to quickly be served your
food within the comfort of your car. It's simple — you pull up to the menu board,
place your order, pull up to the service window, and receive your food. So if you've ever pulled
up to the window and have been asked to pull forward and park to wait for your order, you
may have been somewhat irritated. Why add another step to the process of receiving your
food?
Well, according to an article on Mental Floss, McDonald's restaurants are expected to have
a fast turnover of customers through the drive-thru. In fact, many stores have sensors that time
each customer's progression from the menu board to the service window, and restaurants
are expected to serve each drive-thru customer within a set period of time.
If an order requires more preparation and is interfering with this rate of turnover,
drive-thru employees will ask you to park to wait for your food. If this extra step
is too much of a hassle for you, try not to order menu items that take longer to prepare,
like pies or grilled chicken. For speedy drive-thru service, ordering a basic Big Mac is probably
the way to go.
Chances are you're pretty familiar with McDonald's ongoing Monopoly promotion which encourages
customers to collect Monopoly-inspired game pieces attached to drink cups and fry containers
for the chance to win various prizes. You'd think it would be pretty easy for McDonald's
employees to pocket a few pieces here or there in an effort to score some extra freebies.
But what happens if an employee does this and is caught? Well, it's grounds for dismissal.
According to company rules, employees aren't allowed to touch, open, or redeem Monopoly
pieces, although it does happen. In a Reddit thread featuring questions to, and answers
from, McDonald's employees, one crew member detailed an incident in which a co-worker
was promptly fired after trying to redeem stolen game pieces at the same store where
he was employed.
Another employee, meanwhile, wrote about a co-worker who actually got away with his thefts.
However, management quickly realized game pieces were missing and tightened up security
to prevent more pieces from "walking away." If you've seen McMillions, you know McDonald's
wants to keep its Monopoly security tight.
"The FBI told us the game pieces are being stolen."
You may not know this, but there is an unofficial McDonald's "secret menu item" with a hybrid
sandwich that is well-known amongst "in the know" customers. According to HackTheMenu,
the popular menu hack is a McChicken Sandwich that's placed directly inside of a McDouble.
Both items are on the restaurant's Value Menu, so you essentially get a giant burger featuring
chicken and beef patties, all for about two dollars. For this reason, this menu "hack"
is an incredibly popular order.
But, to be clear, this menu hack is not a McDonald's-sanctioned sandwich, so the company's
corporate office is not a fan of people trying to make it a thing. According to a McDonald's
employee "ask me anything" Reddit thread, when asked about the corporate policy regarding
this sandwich, most respondents said the official policy is to decline the order.
Depending on the McDonald's location, however, you might be served without so much as an
eyebrow raise. Then again, you can always ask politely for a McChicken placed between
a McDouble, since that's literally what you're ordering.
If you're concerned about how long the burger you ordered has been sitting under the warming
lights, you don't have anything to worry about. For one thing, at busy McDonald's restaurants
the turnover for popular menu items is quick, so almost as soon as new items are prepared,
they're being sold. But if you happen to visit the Golden Arches when it's quiet, or the
restaurant you frequent is slow, you still don't have much to worry about. McDonald's
corporate office has very strict rules about how long each prepared item can sit before
being tossed.
According to a very detailed Reddit thread with answers from a former McDonald's employee,
any burger made with the "regular" meat had to be thrown out every 15 minutes. But burgers
made with more high-quality beef could be kept around a little longer. So, for instance,
quarter pounder meat can usually be served for up to 30 minutes, while Angus beef is
good for up to 60 minutes. Chicken nuggets would get tossed after 20 minutes, along with
the Filet-O-Fish.
The respondent went on to detail all of the rules regarding shelf-life for everything
from condiments to oil, making it clear that well-managed stores keep strict tabs on food
safety and quality. Sure, there are hacks for getting fresher food, like ordering french
fries without salt, but there's no reason you should feel the need to use them — you're
almost always guaranteed freshness when eating at McDonald's.
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