McDonald’s worker shares the right way to take the lunch break

A UK-based McDonald’s TikTok account is being dragged onto social media for posting the right way employees need to take their lunch breaks while working for the fast-food franchise.

In the video, which has since been removed, the Cribbs Causeway McDonald’s tricked an employee named Jess into what not to do when making a dinner date through multiple reenactments. Every time she didn’t follow protocol, the manager corrected her and instead showed her how to do it.

Jess is reprimanded in the clip for placing her own food order before going on her lunch break. According to the video, she is supposed to clock out, ask a manager to put in her meal order, and then sit in the crew room until the meal is brought to her.

The manager even berated an employee for wrapping Jess’ food instead of placing it on a “blue tray,” which appears to be the restaurant’s protocol for serving workers’ meals. Then Jess is served the food and by the end of the clip “everyone is happy”.

Some TikTokers described the video’s tone as “dystopian” and argued that clocking out before getting your meal order was a waste of break time. “Hell no, I don’t clock out until I sit down with food in my hands,” said one.

Others compared the treatment of the workers, who, according to Indeed, earn an average of “£7.25 an hour for the kitchen team member to £14.87 an hour for the cashier” in London, to the treatment of prisoners.

According to Query Sprout, the Cribb’s Causeway McDonald’s TikTok appears to match Mickey D’s official meal break logs. Query Sprout reported that “McDonald’s has an employee meal policy that allows you to receive a 50% discount on your meal during your 30 minute meal break. Once you’ve clocked out, you can order your food like a regular customer and the manager usually takes the order to enter the staff discount. In addition, there is a designated place for you to eat your food that is on the premises and no food is allowed to leave the designated areas designated for staff meals. Every time you work, you’re entitled to a meal that’s no more than $8 on the menu, which means you only pay up to $4 for your meal.”

The Daily Dot has reached out to Cribb’s Causeway McDonald’s via TikTok comment and McDonald’s Corporate via email.

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