According to McDonald’s corporate site, the fast food giant operates 42,000 restaurants in over 100 countries, which is a striking number. Equally striking is the number of chain employees, which numbers in the millions (approximately 2 millionto be exact).

McDonald’s successfully operates such a popular fast food chain by selling reliably tasting food at a reasonable price. Another solution is to impose fairly strict guidelines on these millions of employees. Just like employees of other large chains, e.g. Chick-fil-AMcDonald’s fast food employees follow many specific and strict rules of conduct.

We did some research and discovered several strict rules that McDonald’s employees must follow in order to keep their jobs with the franchise. A few of them left us wondering what exactly happened behind that counter or drive-thru window that made these additions to the employee rules necessary in the first place.

No free gifts, ever

With few exceptions, McDonald’s employees are strictly prohibited from handing out free food. No ice cream cone for a kid, no coffee for a cop, no gifts, period, unless you want to risk getting fired for actually stealing from the restaurant. It was a refreshing departure when McDonald’s accepted food gifts from healthcare workers at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Sandwiches must be prepared in a specific order

McDonald’s sandwiches like the Big Mac or the McDouble are meticulously designed, with everything from ingredient type to assembly order tested and locked down. According to Mental threadany employee who does not exactly follow the steps for assembling a McDonald’s menu item risks dismissal.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Frequent hand washing is mandatory

You know those signs in restrooms at restaurants (and others) that say, “Employees must wash their hands before returning to work,” right? Well, these are indeed enforced policies. But it goes even further, by Living room: In many McDonald’s establishments, managers require that each employee wash their hands every 30 minutes under penalty of disciplinary action or even dismissal.

Ronald McDonald is subject to many rules

For starters, McDonald’s employees can only refer to the iconic clown mascot as Ronald McDonald (that means no nicknames like “Ronnie!”). As for the person playing the clown himself, he is bound by a certain number of strict rules, including committing never to reveal his true identity, to protecting company secrets indefinitely, even beyond its mandate within the chain, and to respond to customers using a set script, according to Reader Summary. In addition to maintaining an excellent reputation for the global chain, Ronald McDonald has a special code of conduct that does not allow the mascot to appear in any venue that does not match its core personality – which specifically includes no nightclubs or living room.Business Insider reports.

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Tips don’t go to employees, they go to Ronald

Tips are not often given to McDonald’s employees, but even when they are, any donations must immediately go to the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) box at checkout. Employees are expected to respect this rule because, as the company website says so“McDonald’s restaurants have a team environment that is not intended to reward individuals.” In addition to sticking to an equality-based business model, RMHC serves to help sick children around the world and their families, which may be why the company prefers the extra currency of a customer or generosity goes to such an endearing cause.

Improper Portions Can Cause Problems

According to a former McDonald’s employeeif a worker is unable to measure volume items like fries or milkshakes, they can be fired. With milkshakes, the commenter cited a very strict window of only plus or minus 0.25 ounce leading to a shake considered unacceptable, and a few unacceptable shakes (or overloaded or underloaded containers of fries) could do it.

Black pants and shiny black shoes

McDonald’s provides its employees with most of their uniform, including a shirt, hat (or visor), apron, and name tag. But when it comes to pants and shoes, the worker must bring their own and meet very strict criteria. The pants must be black and cannot be jeans, sweatshirts or leggings. Shoes must be non-slip, black and able to be polished, i.e. leather or imitation leather.

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Yes, you have to work at Christmas

And other holidays too. By an article on AVERAGEIf a McDonald’s employee is employed at an establishment that will be open on a given holiday, they may have no real recourse to avoid a scheduled shift on that day unless they can prove an extraordinary need for exemption – in other words, Simply saying you celebrate Christmas won’t get you out on December 25th.

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Jordan Summers-Marcouillier