A little known fact about Macdonalds.

[willman]

they were/are also credited with being a major sponsor/contributer to the IRA, along with Budweiser.

[Beakerzoid]

Originally posted by willman

they were/are also credited with being a major sponsor/contributer to the IRA, along with Budweiser.

 

The IRA thing was a misinformation from a brit reporter on holiday in the US. He overheard a comment about an employees "IRA contributions" going up, and turned it into a story.

 

Fact is, everyone in the US is encouraged to make regular IRA contributions...it is your pension fund!

 

http://www.investsafe.com/iras.html

 

Thing is, as it was reported in the tabloid press it must be true....surely? There was actually a retraction in the paper that first printed the story (may have been the Mirror, been ages since I saw the report on it), but as is the case with all retractions it was buried on the bottom page of one of the sports pages, in a small little passage. Not really noticable by anyone.

 

I got so fed up of trying to expalain this to people when they told me that "You give money to the IRA" that I began just saying "Well, you pay for the food, so it's actually you making the donation, not me!"

 

Originally posted by katy1981

im a chef! and its illegal for kitchen staff in uniform to even be in the dinning section of an establishment never mind eat in it! and thats from the food hygeine manual i have!!

 

and as for eating their own none menu food in clear view of customers wel thats just blatantly un proffesionall!

 

Actually...not exactly illegal. If you are going to eat in your work-clothes, then there needs to be additional cloting to act as a barrier between your external clothes and the food. Under current Food Hygiene rulings this can be an apron. As long as good hygiene practices are in place re: handwashing etc, it is more than fine.

 

McDonlads employess have to folow a strict handwash routine, wear clean aprons when cooking, wear disposable gloves when handling raw food products (which are thrown away every 30 mins), hair nets, hats etc etc. External clthes can be worn in dining area, aprons and cooking barriers (preventing cross contamination) cannot.

 

Now I agree that sitting there in uniform eating other food is bad. I always asked staff to wear a jacket over their uniform if on their breaks, mainly because to a cusotmer it looks like they are still on duty.

[willman]

Originally posted by Beakerzoid

The IRA thing was a misinformation from a brit reporter on holiday in the US. He overheard a comment about an employees "IRA contributions" going up, and turned it into a story.

 

Fact is, everyone in the US is encouraged to make regular IRA contributions...it is your pension fund!

 

http://www.investsafe.com/iras.html

 

Thing is, as it was reported in the tabloid press it must be true....surely? There was actually a retraction in the paper that first printed the story (may have been the Mirror, been ages since I saw the report on it), but as is the case with all retractions it was buried on the bottom page of one of the sports pages, in a small little passage. Not really noticable by anyone.

 

I got so fed up of trying to expalain this to people when they told me that "You give money to the IRA" that I began just saying "Well, you pay for the food, so it's actually you making the donation, not me!"

 

 

 

Actually...not exactly illegal. If you are going to eat in your work-clothes, then there needs to be additional cloting to act as a barrier between your external clothes and the food. Under current Food Hygiene rulings this can be an apron. As long as good hygiene practices are in place re: handwashing etc, it is more than fine.

 

McDonlads employess have to folow a strict handwash routine, wear clean aprons when cooking, wear disposable gloves when handling raw food products (which are thrown away every 30 mins), hair nets, hats etc etc. External clthes can be worn in dining area, aprons and cooking barriers (preventing cross contamination) cannot.

 

Now I agree that sitting there in uniform eating other food is bad. I always asked staff to wear a jacket over their uniform if on their breaks, mainly because to a cusotmer it looks like they are still on duty.

 

just a couple of quick questions re: your posts

a)how old were you when u started working @ Macd's.

b)why do you get all defensive about where you've worked or still work.

nobody can say a thing about UGc or macd's without u accusing them of being wrong all the time.

[Hook]

Originally posted by willman

just a couple of quick questions re: your posts

a)how old were you when u started working @ Macd's.

b)why do you get all defensive about where you've worked or still work.

nobody can say a thing about UGc or macd's without u accusing them of being wrong all the time.

 

I assume willman that it is more a case of somebody who is actually in the know correcting somebody who is speculating.

 

Why do you react so badly when somebody corrects you?

[Beakerzoid]

Originally posted by willman

just a couple of quick questions re: your posts

a)how old were you when u started working @ Macd's.

b)why do you get all defensive about where you've worked or still work.

nobody can say a thing about UGc or macd's without u accusing them of being wrong all the time.

 

a) I was 21 when I began working there. I was 28 when I spectacularly told them where to stick their job!

b) it is nothing about defensive, it is simply stating facts. I can be very critical about McDonalds for quite a lot of things (their treatment of staff is terrible, they were once very committed to their employees, but began to cut the staff benefits, and pay reviews more and more over the years. They pride themselves on training managers up on courses, then dump them on tills as glorified staff. The only way to get anywhere in the company is to stick your toungue up the right bosses arse!) There are very good reasons why I quit my job there, so I do not have a rose tinted view about the company. However if someone makes a point that is incorrect, I correct them. I do this on posts on other topics, not just where I work, be it TV, music, films, games, computer, social issues, whatever. I thought that was the general idea of a topic of debate and discussion. If you can't handle someone pointing out a misconception you have, then don't post messages, becasue somewhere along the way you will make mistakes - we all do it, and I have been known to quote bad resources from time to time (I believed that Seaman Staines and Master Bates were characters on Captain Pugwash until someone showed me the evidence - a DVD - that proved what an ass I was!)

 

At the end of the day, I can correct people on things that I know about - and as I have experience of McDonalds and UGC, I think it is safe to say I know something about them! In addition, I do not say people are wrong all the time - look at the post you referenced of mine, I actually said that sitting on the dining area in uniform was bad! I agree that they should cover up the uniform as it is, as was pointed out in an earlier post, unprofessional. I will agree with points that I agree with - I will dispute ones that I don't - I will provide information on points that I know stuff about.

 

Geez, here I was thinking that this was a discussion forum, and by bringing some fact into it maybe I could educate a few common misconceptions. My apologies for knowing a subject matter!

 

As for UGC/Cineworld, if you read throught he multi-page epic that was the 'lets slag off UGC thread', I didn't get defensive, I tried to answer questions. Go back, and re-read it, I simply offered answers to points/comments/queries, and some people found these useful (some then choosing to PM me to obtain further details on things at the cinema, or films coming soon).

 

From your message I get a slight hint that you may feel that I am personally picking at you - I am not, I am responding to posts. That is all. If that has is somehow against the nature of the boards, then perhaps you can explain how I am supposed to respond to threads? Should I just agree with everything? Be a mindless automation and follow the herd?

[willman]

Originally posted by Beakerzoid

[b

From your message I get a slight hint that you may feel that I am personally picking at you - I am not, I am responding to posts. That is all. If that has is somehow against the nature of the boards, then perhaps you can explain how I am supposed to respond to threads? Should I just agree with everything? Be a mindless automation and follow the herd? [/b]

 

 

no nothing of the sort, it was just that the IRA story was headline news &proven before you actually started work for them.i'm not saying you don't know better just that when the word was out for the first time,it was a little before your time.

 

as for c/peaks ,i know it well & know a few of the old staff before the franchise & the new.

however i can only post what the head office state is company policy,if franchisees dont want to compy it doesn't make it a different policy just perhaps a more liberal owner.

[Beakerzoid]

The IRA case was reported, yes! But proven? No.

 

Yes, it was a couple of years before I began working there - but I do recall it the story breaking, and I have read the retraction at a later date (I too believed it was true until I saw the retraction when studying libel law at University). It cropped up as one of the many McLibel items, which was gathering momentum at the time (before running for far too long). Thing is, with tales about any corporation, it makes no difference if it is true or not - people will choose to believe it anyway, and so the story will continue being spread. That's why, when I was working there, I got fed up of trying to explain the truth behind the story and just said "You buy the food!" If you want to still belive it is true, that's up to you. I have tried to explain the truth behind it all, and where the story arose from. You now have a choice as to what you wish to believe to be the truth - that's the joy of being human.

 

Whether something was reported before I worked there or not, however, is beside the point. I know a fair deal about WW1, but I wasn't alive then - I studied it (not professionally, but out of interest through my life).

 

You are correct in pointing out that Peaks is a franchise, and this may be where their deviation from the norm arises from. After all they are not under the strict supervision that the McOpCo companies are under (although they still have to be subjected to the same audits - ha, toothbrushes in the cracks on the floor to clean up...I don't miss it!) Perhaps that is why there is less concern from them that staff sit in full uniform on the dining area eating KFC.

 

 

Quick note: I am not being defensive here, just replying to your post. (perhaps I should put that in my sig?)

[bglodge]

Originally posted by willman

it was just that the IRA story was headline news &proven before you actually started work for them.

 

 

Factually incorrect. If you are so convinced that this urban myth was proven then might I suggest you do a bit of research. It may surprise you to know that this story first emerged in The Scotsman. A journalist reported on a number of American companies and indicated that McDonald's was an example of a good employer, assisting employees to contribute to their Individual Retirement Account - noted on payslips as, yes, you've guessed it , Contribution to IRA.

Of course, we should never let the truth interfere with a good urban myth ("a friend of a friend knew someone, etc, etc, etc").

 

A simple search on Google throws up many, many pages referencing savings and IRA's - do you consider every single one of these articles, when suggesting investors make contributions to IRA's, to be talking about a terrorist organisation or possibly suggesting people make plans for their future?

[Beakerzoid]

Ah...so the initial report was the positives of the IRA fund. I was aware of the misinterpretation afterwards by the various other tabloid media who picked up the story. Cheers for the additional info.

[poimaster]

Here is another little known McD's fact......

All the food put into the heated shelf thing (you know what i mean!)should be there for no longer than 10 minutes. To time how long the burgers have been there they use "L" shaped bits of metal with either a black or red number on it. This is put in then the food is first put in and the metal number tells everyone when it needs to be thrown in the bin if its still unsold after 10 mins.

If a run of big macs is put into the heater at say 1pm the minute hand on the McClock is on 12 but around the outside of McClocks are red and black numbers which tell the McMonkey which timecard to put in behind the macs. At 1pm they should put in a black or red number 2 timecard so when the big hand reaches 10 past 1 (on the number 2) they know its been there too long and should be thrown away.

You would be amazed at how little food IS actually thown away, a lot of the time a different time card is put behind the burgers so they appear to have another 10 minutes left on em before they are thrown away.

Bit of a lengthy post but if you're gonna eat there you should at least get what you are paying for. Yeah the food is full of s**t but you should at least get it hot n fresh!