MCDONALD’S workers are being urged to speed up despite fears that they are breaking Covid rules, it has been claimed.
Before the pandemic, McDonald’s branches regularly competed with each other and could see leader boards on screens in their kitchens.
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Following lockdowns, the chain then said the competitions shouldn’t happen to make sure staff members can focus on working safely.
However, a worker in Daventry, Northamptonshire has told Sky News that the competitions are now back to an “almost daily” occurrence.
A message on a store Facebook account, sent in mid-February when Covid infection rates were still high, encouraged staff to “smash it this Saturday!”.
The message showed workers the latest customer service times within their franchise and asked: “Who can knock Rothwell from the top spot?”
What Covid measures has McDonald’s introduced?
THE fast food chain has introduced a wide range of measures to keep staff and customers safe – these include:
- Protective screens in its kitchen and service areas
- Smaller teams in its kitchens to enable social distancing
- Face coverings and daily temperature checks for all employees
- Hand and bag sanitising stations and face coverings for its McDelivery partner couriers
- Contact-free order and payment available via the My McDonald’s App
- Enhanced cleaning of all surfaces and touchpoints
The worker said the competitions resulted in no social distancing between staff, making the workplace not Covid safe.
Another McDonald’s worker in Cheshire also confirmed they had complained about the competitions compromising their safety.
They told Sky News: “On our busiest days, everywhere [in the kitchen] gets jammed up… we too are breaking records weekly, just last week we did a record day… in a lockdown.”
Staff then get a ranking in the country, but the goal is to be on top of your group throughout the day, they added.
The worker pointed out that McDonald’s had ordered the shutdown of competitions at the start of the latest lockdown, but said this lasted only a couple of days in their franchise.
The latest reports come after last week’s claim that McDonald’s staff repeatedly break Covid rules by hugging and failing to check temperatures.
This was claimed by workers at branches in Kent, Merseyside and Greater Manchester, leading McDonald’s to launch an internal investigation.
Following the latest claims, a McDonald’s spokesperson told The Sun: “We’ve paused all speed of service competitions in our restaurants, so it’s really disappointing to hear that in a few instances this is not being adhered to.
“Since the start of the pandemic we’ve been extremely clear that safety must be prioritised over speed, and we’ll be looking into the concerns raised immediately.
“We’ve also re-iterated the importance of this matter to our franchisees and restaurants.”
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