It had been a well-intended attempt to serve their employees, but it revealed a bit too much about corporate ethics. There were a couple of problem areas.
- How to make ends meet: The site offered financial advice for employees including how to tip an au pair or a pool cleaner, for example. Not really helpful for McDonald’s workers. For their low and minimum wage employees, they suggested that workers consider returning unopened Christmas gifts to get out of debt. Workers who called the McResource help line was told to look into food stamps, Medicaid, and local pantries for the needy.
- How to eat healthy: The site cautioned employees about the health effects of fast food, calling a cheeseburger and French fries an “unhealthy choice.” To illustrate the difference between ‘unhealthy choice’ and the ‘healthier choice’, the website of the food chain that employs some 700,000 people worldwide, for some reason showed a typical McDonald’s meal and one very much resembling a meal at the company’s major competitor, Subway -- a sandwich with salad and a glass of water.
Most fast-food employees work less than 30 hours per week and are flex-scheduled; it saves the employer having to provide benefits, and they can be sent home occasionally when business slows. Half of fast-food workers in the US rely on public assistance to supplement their paychecks, costing American taxpayers an estimated $7 billion every year. The government effectively subsidizes the industry by providing benefits to their underpaid employees.