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by Tondoteottotote on March 13th, 2006

Tondoteottotote

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Why don't McDonald's employees earn a commission for every item they sell?

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  • by Dracujesus on February 15th, 2007

    Dracujesus

    Because they typically sell a meal which doesn't cost more than ten dollars (I'm in Canada, so prices are different). The average order for last night at my McDonald's was something like 6.50$.
    Having 6 people on, what percentage of that could they receive?
    And which employees deserve more % of what they sell?
    Those at the first window, who actually do the least work out of everyone involved in the process?
    What about kitchen people? They ensure that the customer comes back by not receiving low-grade product.

    Even if employees received 5% from every order, they would get 5 cents.
    Over supper, my store had 85 customers last night. We had six non-salary people working.
    At the 5% commission rate, they would get an extra 4.25.
    That is so ridiculously meager that the implementation of such a program wouldn't really benefit anyone. Nor would it make employees happy.

    From reading this, I see that the McDonald's corporations in non-Canadian places are pretty... questionable. But coming from a Canadian perspective, I'd like to point out that McDo here (I am fairly sure that is national) starts off 25 cents above minimum wage, every year you're there you get at least a 25 cent raise, but you get 50 cents if you are a hard worker.
    There are promotion programs which DO develop your skills without making you committed to the organization. This promotes leadership skills that you couldn't even imagine.
    I recently got promoted to a swing manager and I tell you, the skills I have learned in getting here are insurmountable by other organizations with which I've been involved, and the skills I am going to develop now are even more useful.

    Then again, no one at my store is unhappy or bitter about their job, so maybe I just have a good store and maybe outside of where these policies exist, there are major problems.

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  • by Alatea on March 13th, 2006

    Alatea

    McD's doesn't have an interest in giving incentives. It's a slave labor employer for the very young and the senior citizen. These workers have a tough enough time getting a coffee break let alone a commission.
    ------------

    Workers' skills are eliminated. They perform routinised tasks learnt in a day- to prepare and bag French fries workers follow 19 carefully calculated steps. This deskilling leaves McDonald's free to pursue a cheap labour policy which keeps costs down and enables it to hire and fire workers as demand fluctuates.

    McDonald's aims to keep labour costs within 15% of any outlet's sales. "It's very tight", said one store manager. "If sales are down, labour costs must come down: you have to cut the staff and make those remaining work harder."

    "Labour is the big one we hear about from head office", another manager explained. "A really high volume store could run at 10% labour because the bodies are always in motion. But in a quiet store you still have to keep a foundation crew which is why labour slips up occasionally to 16-16 1/2%. The pressure to keep labour costs down means having less bodies in the store, so we're running around all day, all night. Otherwise labour would be right through the ceiling."

    To stick to the 15% rule, high productivity is extracted from a "flexible" workforce of part-time and temporary workers, mostly youth, blacks and women. They work unsocial hours with no security for low pay.

    McDonald's depends on young workers to keep its labour costs down. Some 32% of the workforce are under 18, many still at school, and 75% under 21. Hiring anunder-18 year old saves McDonald's 52p an hour. And with the government's abolition of wage protection for workers under 21 those savings could increase. "We're under pressure from head office", said one store manager, "to hire as many under 18 year olds as possible and we worry more about them leaving. Even if we give 20p an hour extra to keep them on, we cut costs."

    McDonald's recruits from other groups discriminated against in the labour market. It feeds on foreign visitors, women, students and ethnic minorities who, with few other opportunities, are forced to accept the poor wages and conditions.

    McDonald's has no specific figures available but in hotel and catering as a whole people from ethnic minorities are twice as likely to be employed as white workers. "We don't look at people's colour or nationality", said one manager, "but their availability."

    With teenagers hard to find in suburban USA, McDonald's is going all out to recruit senior citizens. TV ads encourage them to sign up under the McMasters programme. Some 10% of the workforce are now over 50 and 5% over 60. The company believes they are no more demanding than young people and more efficient.

    Part Timers

    Those who work less than 16 hours are outside the protection of most employment legislation. Until they clock up 5 years' service they have no rights to redundancy or maternity pay time off for trade union activities, or to claim for unfair dismissal (except for union membership). Britain is one of the only European countries to limit the legal rights of part-timers.

    The Liqour Trades Union in Australia has received complaints that workers are dismissed when nearing their 20th birthdays to avoid paying adult wages. Youngsters scheduled when business was slack had to fold boxes. They were not paid for this. It's hardly surprising McDonald's reported difficulties in getting Australian workers to smile!

    Shifts last 6-8 hours any time between 7am and 2.30 the next morning. Stores serving breakfast have staff round the clock, cleaning through the night for the 6.30 opening. Every 6 hours workers have one 45 minute break - unpaid - but they often have to remind managers to let them off.

    Read more here
    http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/reports/trans.html

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  • by 8 Jan 2004-10 Dec 2009 on February 15th, 2007

    8 Jan 2004-10 Dec 2009

    Commission is for those things where the potential buyer may or may not want to purchase your goods/services or may go elsewhere. I could shop around for the best price on a new car. I may be comparing the Accord to the Camry. There, sales depend on skill, tact, charisma, and other qualities that should be rewarded with a commission.

    If a person goes into McD's, it's a sure bet that they are hungry and that either they are too lazy to go elsewhere OR they already chose McD's over, say, BK or Taco Bell.

    Therefore there really is no salemanship on the part of the person taking the order. If the customer doesn't want it supersized, there is nothing the cashier can do to change their mind.

    Besides, with the volume of business they do worldwide, either the commission would be too small to be an incentive or large enough to bankrupt them within a week.

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