No-Quit' Notice In McDonald's Forbidding Employees From Quitting Sparks Angry Debate About 'At Will' Employment
It's super frustrating when an employee quits or, worse, walks out mid-shift. According to a picture that's been going around the internet, a McDonald's is trying to stop it by prohibiting quitting.
I don't know if it's real. My best guess is that it was the bright idea of a single manager or franchise owner. I've seen it in English and Spanish, which makes me think it's a U.S.-based sign. McDonald's corporate hasn't responded to a request for clarification.
At-will employment is absolute for almost all employees.
Frequently managers think they can fire people at any time because they live in an "at-will" state. (Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia are at-will. Only Montana is not.) Managers cannot just fire anyone at any time. They can only terminate people if the termination is legal. You can't, for instance, fire someone for their race, religion, sexual orientation, or national origin. But an employee can legally quit for any or all of those reasons.
You can't fire an employee because she gets pregnant, but she can quit if you get pregnant. And while you can face repercussions from the courts and the EEOC, your employee can't. Employees can quit.
Even in most non-at-will employment, the burden is solely on the employer. You may only be able to terminate a union employee if you follow the contract rules, but the employee can leave at any time. Only in rare contracted positions is there any legal obligation for an employee to stay. I guarantee no McDonald's employee outside the C-suite is working under those conditions.
So, that was a long way to say, "This is unenforceable."
Even if it were enforceable, why would you want to?
Can you imagine trying to get an employee to provide good customer service when the employee is only there because you've forced them to stay? Perhaps they would just refuse to work while staying clocked in?No, if someone wants to leave, you wouldn't want them to stay. It doesn't benefit you, it doesn't benefit the employee, and it doesn't benefit your customers.
How can you prevent people from walking out?
Of course, the trite answer is to pay more so you can hire better people who don't do this. But that's not an easy answer. While the McDonald's corporation has deep pockets, most franchise owners earn around $150,000 annually. While that is a nice paycheck, it does not allow you to increase employee wages constantly.But you can reduce turnover by doing a few simple things. For instance:
- Be positive instead of negative. "This is a no-quit restaurant" is aggressive and negative. Instead, try "We love you and want you to stay!" Then let people know that they can come to the manager or other leader if they have a concern.
- Get rid of the customer-is-always-right attitude. Many customers are terrible. If a customer is harassing your employees, kick that customer out.
- Train your managers and shift leaders. Managing people is hard. If you don't provide specific management training, start doing it now. If you can have good managers, you'll have lower turnover.
- Use carrots, not sticks. Turnover is expensive. It costs a good deal of money to train new people. Reduce your turnover by offering a retention bonus. A 2022 survey found that only 54 percent of quick-service restaurant employees made it through the first 90 days. What if you offered a $100 bonus for reaching six months and $200 for reaching a year?
How you going to tell me I can't quit? Fuck is going to happen if I quit without talking to the area manager? They going to put a bench warrant out for me? FOH
