Wow. So "My Name is Earl" is now shaping McDonald's corporate policy.

/wonders if the manager gets to wear a "World's Best Bottom" shirt

Why just family? It's not like working at Micky Dees is a skilled position and they need a certain mixture of employees with different specialties on the floor. You should be able to switch with whomever the heck you want, as long as someone comes in.

They need laws for this kind of stuff? My girlfriend and I both work at a Dick's Sporting Goods and we routinely switch shifts without letting anyone know ahead of time.

OK...how 'bout this? I've got a really smart cat...

Disregard above sentence regarding laws. By law I of course meant 'policy.'

God, so many of you asshats even failed to read the article. I guess its not surprising.. but the article is so damn short.

Dude, what's with that, comma in the, headline?

So...Randki...you sayin' I'd need to get a British cat?

/...and wouldn't that be 'arsehat?

nice, submission, there, submitter, very, informative, in, a, Shatner, kind, of, way

Major Thomb: Bash all you want, but I paid my way through college working at similar jobs. Easy work, free food, and lots of shifts available during non-class time.

and all the free heartburn and artery blockage you can handle.

If any of my family ever asked me to do that, I'd promptly give them a cockpunch.

Am I supposed to pat McDonald's on the back for realizing that sometimes employees need to switch shifts, and that McDonald's could save their managers some headaches by not being draconian about it? My bet is that the "cool" managers were already letting their trusted employees (if not trusted, then why else would they still be working - McD's can always find another highschooler in need of spending money) arrange for their co-workers to cover each other without prior notification.

I think they're limiting themselves by restricting it to family. As long as a warm body shows up to do the job, and the time cards are filled out correctly, who cares if it's Bob or Joe working on fries from 6-10pm? If Bob ducks too many shifts, then Bob can find other work

/Former Little Ceasar's pizza slinger.
//Felt sorry for friends that were McDonald's employees.

My whole family works at McDonald's

So I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies.

Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about.

But trust me.... You don't.

I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality you dont know what you are talking about.

This is how bad info gets passed around.

If you dont know about the topic....Dont make yourself sound like you do.

Cuz some Farkers belive anything they hear.

Why shouldn't McDonalds do this. It gives people a benefit albeit a small one and cost the company nothing. I do not really see the big need for it though as most of these type places have extremely flexible scheduling anyway. I am not sure why they would limit this to family though.

The rule would be real simple: If you are scheduled to work a shift you can get anyone else in the company that is certified for that position to work that shift for you so long as it does not put them into overtime, however the ultimate responsibility of that shift being covered is on you. If your replacement does not show up it is your ass not the replacements.

The New Serfdom?

No one in their right mind should work at a McDonald's...

/Was not in my right mind, and quit 1 month, later when, sanity took, over,

Employee: Hey boss, can't come in I am really sick...
Boss: Can your Mom come in then?
Employee: No.
Boss: Your Dad?
Employee: He has a full time job already...
Boss: How about your brother, can he come in for you?
Employee: No.
Boss: Your sister?
Employee: No.
Boss: Your girlfriend?
Employee: No.
Boss: Grandma?
Employee: Nope, she is bed ridden.
Boss: Gramps?
Employee: Dead.
Boss: Hows about your cousin Mike?
Employee: Moved.
Boss: Okay see you tomorrow...(click)
Employee: I really gotta remember not to take him to the family reunion again, even if he did invite himself last time!

who cares if it's Bob or Joe working on fries from 6-10pm?

Because maybe Joe doesn't know how to make fries, or is a total screwup. You need at least a couple non-screwups on every shift, so you better check before switching.

Yeah I was a McDonald's manager in a former life.

Great. So you need better excuses for the boss, so they'll leave you and your whole family alone.

Bill: "Sorry boss, I can't come in today. I'm really sick."
Boss: "Sick, huh? How sick are you?"
Bill: "Well, I'm farking my daughter right now, and I've been popping beads out of my bum the whole time we've been on the phone. The wife should be back in here with jumper cables in just a minute, then she can have a go at being sicker than me."
Boss: "See you tomorrow, Bill."

Irascible: So when do they open a "company store" that has inflated prices, deducts purchases from your paycheck and alots a line of credit against furure wages?

Right after Walmart does... Oh, it's coming I'm sure.

retief

My whole family works at McDonald's

How's that trailer park working for you?

/I keed

Don't bash food service, mmmmkay?

I work part-time at a sub shop to help pay tuition, and I *gasp* actually don't mind it. Not quite as bad as McDonalds, though, as the food is healthy and they let me drink on the job. With tips, I can rake in $10 an hour on a weekend night, which isn't bad at all.

submitter = Shatner?

,piles on
,,more commas
,,,commas working slashie's shift tonight

All right! 2 jobs, one paycheck! What could possibly go wrong?

Bronto Saurus: Now that we have always-on Internet, mobile phones, pagers, BlackBerrys (or the like), there's constant pressure to extend the employee's workday (and workweek) far beyond the traditional 5x8 envelope.

I read somewhere the average wage-slave works 45 hours per week. Not including hourly employees (who have to be paid much more if they go over 40 hours) that jumps to 60. Salaried employees routinely work 10 hours a day, usually also coming in on Saturdays and Sundays to do more work, and have been convinced by everyone that since Americans are so damn lazy we don't deserve vacation--all that "time is money" crap. Corporate America has changed absolutely NONE from the pre-Depression days. They still look to milk their customers for as much cash as possible and they still look to beat on their employees until there's nothing left but a dried-up empty shell.

I was told "work to live, don't live to work". The last company I worked for stressed "Work/Life Effectiveness" which was their way of saying "We'll work you until you HAVE no life." 12 hour shifts were the norm. Middle management did 14, 16 hour days as a matter of course.

Bow down to your master, middle-class America. Bow down and lick their jackboots. THEY OWN YOU and you know it. Your boss owns you. Your bank owns you. Your government owns you. And all that stuff you THINK you own? They can take that away from you whenever they want.

2006-01-26 07:15:34 PM carltrips

and all the free heartburn...

Oh, you're one of those pussies that gets heartburn from a marshmallow

What's with the comma police today? Just FYI, in "mindnumbing, poorly paid shift", the comma is not only acceptable, it's required. The adjectives "mindnumbing" and "poorly paid" are coordinate modifiers. They both refer to the same noun and are of equal grammatical rank, and such adjectives must be separated by a comma.

Geez.

I bet their reasoning is they would end up paying less overtime. Kind of how Walmart will not let you get overtime.
When I worked there, everyone got 5 hour shifts.

/unavailable for comment

I work for McDonald's

I'm really getting a kick out of several of your responses.

You don't really know anything about this topic, because if you did you wouldn't be saying the things you are.

I wonder where you guys come up with some of this stuff.

etc. etc.

P.S. Irascible Nice. You must have read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair then? I didn't want a saugage for awhile after that book. Oh yeah, I also became a communist for a week or two.

DeeKayOne - The headline has been corrected since the biatching started.

It used to have an erroneous comma. I believe it was between "would" and "have."

Just lettin' ya know.

BarkingPumpkin

In that case I stand, corrected.

superhappyfunball
Funny, but there is only one comma in the headline.

And so does bneffer.

Worked with the public for over 7 years. I'm convinced that most people are morons, and it's a bloody miracle the human race has evolved as far as it has.

/can't wait till customerssuck.com gets back up.

I'm waiting for McSharecropping.

retief
You have the true iteration. I kneel and submit my comments for expulsion.

Ye gods, people. Read the article.
Read it.
Read it again.
Read it one more time.

Now understand that it's not the option of having some schmuck that doesn't work at McD's come in to sling frys for you - If you and your brother happen to work there, both gainfully employed by the company, you are able to switch shifts without prior approval.

Not "Hey, your son called out, you have to come in or I'm firing him" or anything of the nature.

AHHHHHHH!!!
shadax,
Is that kid wearing a fat suit? He's got to have had heart surgury by now. That is scary! Literally, I am frightened for America now.

where's the beef ??????????????????????????????????

they let me drink on the job

Ironic, I usually drink on the job when I don't like my job.

/I keed, I know what you mean.

bneffer:
That picture is a few years old and I believe is of two Russian children who are wrestlers, not Americans.

Only in America!

And why is this news?

Yes, I know this is Fark, but why did Reuters think this was news?

Thanks Rendus, I was about to say the same thing. Surprised it took that long for someone to say that.

/once worked at McDonalds.
//work itself wasn't bad at all
///had cool managers
////it was the other employees that drove me to quit

Comma, comma, comma, comma, chameleon...
/Didn't RTFA , just having an attack of "teh ghey."
/Sorry.
/Really.