McDonald's is not having a great month. First, the world was reminded that the beloved McRib was nothing more than a sad frozen styrofoam-looking hunk of processed pork. Now, people are understandably upset about the company's "stress management" tips—which, naturally, tells its minimum-wage workers to "Break your food into pieces" to keep from going hungry and to "consider returning some of your unopened purchases" to make some quick cash. But don't worry, McDonald's says they didn't mean it that way!
The advice, posted on the company's "McResource" site, earned a fair amount of criticism from advocacy groups like Low Pay Is Not Okay, which called it "offensive" and "clueless." But McDonald's says we're blowing it out of proportion: "This is an attempt by an outside organization to undermine a well-intended employee assistance resource website by taking isolated portions out of context," a spokesperson told ABC News.
Low Pay Is Not Okay highlighted the McResource tips—which also suggested to its $7.25/hour workers that "at least two vacations a year can cut a heart attack risk by 50 percent"—on a video on their site, which included ostensible screen grabs from the company's official handout. But according to McDonald's, IT'S ALL LIES, LOOK AWAY:
The website also includes some rotating 'quick tips' and while we recognize that some of these could be taken out of context, the vast majority of the resources and information on the site are based on credible outside experts and well-published advice. The content for the site was provided by an independent work-life, health and wellness company and we will be working with them to review the content and make any necessary adjustments to the information to make sure that it stays a trusted, accurate and useful tool for employees who choose to use it.
Fast food workers have been rallying to get their federal minimum wage bumped up to $15 an hour, noting many employees of companies like McDonald's have to work at least two jobs to make ends meet.
