A McDonald’s worker recently claimed that her manager attempted to get her to pay out-of-pocket for a crew meal that she said she customarily earns as part of compensation.
Emily (@mcemily23) posted the video, which had over 29,600 views as of Monday afternoon. In it, she pretended to punch-in her crew order and then performed a skit where she acted as both her manager and herself.
“I’m just getting a McChicken and a small fries,” she said. “It’s all I’m getting. That’s literally it.”
@mcemily23 #mcdonaldsworkers #mcdonalds ♬ original sound – McEmily
Emily said her manager alleged that she wasn’t allowed to do that, despite another superior previously telling her that it was OK.
The back-and-forth continued for a bit, and then Emily broke character to tell viewers what her manager said. “He told me that I would have to pay for a McChicken and a small fry when I should have got it for free,” she said. “And I convinced him to let me have it for free this one time because I’ve always got it for free on my crew meal on my meal break.”
According to Glassdoor, McDonald’s employees are entitled to free lunch—or snacks—during their shifts. One commenter noted, however, that “your mileage may vary” depending on which location you’re working.
In the TikTok comments, a number of viewers were shocked that Emily’s manager almost refused her a free meal.
“Crazy some locations make you pay,” one commenter noted. “So greedy coming from a million dollar company.”
“actin like mc donalds gonna bankrupt bc their employees wanna eat,” another said.
“Sooo much food gets thrown away and wasted in these fast food restaurants,” someone else observed. “It’s crazy to not give your employees a free meal!!”
Other McDonald’s workers shared their own location’s policies.
“My McDonald’s you can only get certain things but the two definites is it comes with a medium fry and drink,” one person shared.
“My location for crew meal was a dollar amount,” another revealed.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Emily via TikTok comment and to McDonald’s by email.
