Recently, Redditor u/Cold_Zero_ posted a vaguely threatening McDonald's sign to the Work Reform subreddit, joking: "You can check in any time you like, but you can never leave." The sign informed employees about the store's "no-quit" policy and had Redditors debating whether this was a good or bad thing — to say nothing of it actually being enforceable.
Initially, the consensus seemed to be that the sign was yet another example of corporate overreach, with u/TheMeticulousNinja firing back, "I like that they think they can stop me," and u/YourBoyBone adding, "I would be more than happy to waste a few hours applying and interviewing to this store just to walk out 30 minutes into my first shift." But then the conversation shifted.
As u/HoGoNMero pointed out, maybe the sign wasn't as threatening as it seemed. "This sign is kind of weird because it’s actually kind of pro worker. I kind of read it as 'If manager Brad is being a bitch you can call the store manager or franchise owner/area supervisor at any time ... please don’t leave us we will do what it takes to keep you.'”
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This was echoed by u/joseph4th, who said: "Pretty much all of us should get paid more, but that’s a different issue. That isn’t what they are trying to stop. They are trying to catch workplace issues that shouldn’t be happening and are costing them employees.
"Places like Mcdonald's are known as job churn factories," they continued. "They literally let you walk out because in their mind there was always another monkey behind you in line that they could teach to work the grill. Now they either realized that wasn’t so great or they're finding the monkeys have gotten wise to the game.
The Redditor ended his comments by saying: "Either way this is a positive step. Can’t be so cynical that you just start shooting at every and anything."
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The Reddit debate about whether the sign is a poorly executed pro-worker message or just another attempt by a corporation to bend workers to its will raged on with no clear consensus. But surely there is middle ground here: Why waste energy forbidding employees from quitting when you can put that effort into creating a work environment that makes them want to stay?
As for whether this policy is enforceable or not — of course it isn't. “At-will employees can be terminated at any time, with or without cause,” Nadira Byles, an HR consultant at Justworks, told Business News Daily earlier this year. “Employees also have the same right and can leave at will anytime without any legal consequences.”