Dutch McDo's 'wrong' to fire worker over cheese slice...
in [Europe]
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From: Tom P on 27 Jan 2010 13:29 tim.... wrote: > "Tom P" <werotizy(a)freent.dd> wrote in message > news:7savtrFkf6U1(a)mid.individual.net... >> Gregory Morrow wrote: >>> Earl Evleth wrote: >>> >>>> On 27/01/10 12:19, in article >>>> DsCdnWI0k5Crgv3WnZ2dnUVZ_tudnZ2d(a)earthlink.com, "Gregory Morrow" >>>> <rrrrrrrrrorrr(a)rrrnrjj.fi> wrote: >>>> >>>>> But the court said in its written judgement: "The dismissal was too >>>>> severe a measure. It is just a slice of cheese," reports AFP news >>>>> agency. >>>> A reprimand was more in order. >>>> >>>> Drastic treatment of workers is a hallmark of modern, >>>> profits-are-everything Capitalism. Basically >>>> terrorize the workers. >>>> >>>> To repeat, Capitalism has no social goals, it lacks >>>> human empathy. It ranks with Fascism in that regard. >>> >>> This kerfuffle is something I'd expect in the US, not in the EU where >>> worker - protection laws are stronger... >>> >> You'd be surprised. In Germany we've had several such cases recently in >> court where the employees lost. I can't remember the details of all the >> cases but one such case was a secretary who was fired for eating a >> sandwich that was left over after a management meeting. > > I find that hard to believe. > > That is standard practice everywhere I have worked, including in Germany. > > tim > > Maybe you haven't been following the news for the past year. There were other cases where women working in shops were sacked for the most trivial reasons - IIRC one was a bakery where the woman ate a piece of bread that would have been thrown away otherwise, another in a shop where the cashier had pocketed some gift stamps that a customer didn't want. Here's the secretary case: http://www.wdr.de/themen/panorama/27/dortmund_broetchen_prozess/index.jhtml It says the woman, who had been working for the company for 34 years, was fired on the spot for eating two bread rolls and a meatball.
From: EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) on 27 Jan 2010 13:55 Gregory Morrow wrote: > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8481827.stm > > McDonald's 'wrong' to fire worker over cheese slice > > A McDonald's outlet in the Netherlands was wrong to sack an employee for > giving a colleague a piece of cheese on a hamburger, a court has ruled. > > The waitress was fired last March after she sold a hamburger to a co-worker > who then asked for cheese, which she added. > > The fast-food chain argued this turned the hamburger into a cheeseburger, > and so she should have charged more. > > But Leeuwarden district court ruled a written warning would have been more > appropriate. > > McDonald's was ordered to pay the former employee more than 4,200 euros > ($5,900; �3,660) for the last five months of her contract. > > The fast-food chain had argued that the waitress - who was employed at a > branch in the northern town of Lemmer - had broken staff rules prohibiting > free gifts to family, friends or colleagues. > > But the court said in its written judgement: "The dismissal was too severe a > measure. It is just a slice of cheese," reports AFP news agency. > > The ruling comes days after McDonald's reported an increase in net profits > by almost a quarter in the last three months of 2009..." > > </> > > It has been many years since I worked in the restaurant industry (and those I worked in were on a somewhat higher "social" scale than McD's). However, most restaurants - at least in California - included meals as part of their employees' salaries. (At least I infer that "colleague" implies the recipient of the cheese was a fellow-employee.)
From: EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) on 27 Jan 2010 14:01 Earl Evleth wrote: > I think Mac calls their cheese "cheddar", having that color ( > the cheddars some in two colors, as least at our local cheese > shop in Paris, one of which is not colored (see photo > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Somerset-Cheddar.jpg) > It originated from an English village of Cheddar. It is > extensively imitated world wide. Actually, at least in the U.S., McD's (and most other fast-food restaurants) serves an abomination called "American" cheese, which has nothing in common with cheddar ("imitation" or "real") except its color!
From: tim.... on 27 Jan 2010 14:19 "Bill Bonde {Colourless green ideas don't sleep furiously)" <tribuyltinafpant(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message news:4B603511.C9863FF9(a)yahoo.co.uk... > > > "tim...." wrote: >> >> "Gregory Morrow" <rrrrrrrrrorrr(a)rrrnrjj.fi> wrote in message >> news:AJqdnURCYeG8uP3WnZ2dnUVZ_rSdnZ2d(a)earthlink.com... >> > Earl Evleth wrote: >> > >> >> On 27/01/10 12:19, in article >> >> DsCdnWI0k5Crgv3WnZ2dnUVZ_tudnZ2d(a)earthlink.com, "Gregory Morrow" >> >> <rrrrrrrrrorrr(a)rrrnrjj.fi> wrote: >> >> >> >>> But the court said in its written judgement: "The dismissal was too >> >>> severe a measure. It is just a slice of cheese," reports AFP news >> >>> agency. >> >> >> >> A reprimand was more in order. >> >> >> >> Drastic treatment of workers is a hallmark of modern, >> >> profits-are-everything Capitalism. Basically >> >> terrorize the workers. >> >> >> >> To repeat, Capitalism has no social goals, it lacks >> >> human empathy. It ranks with Fascism in that regard. >> > >> > >> > This kerfuffle is something I'd expect in the US, not in the EU where >> > worker - protection laws are stronger... >> > >> > I wonder if this Dutch McDo's worker belonged to a union...??? >> >> When you have courts that enforce employment rights properly, >> individually, >> you don't need to belong to a union. >> > What is in the contract? The contract will be based upon the national law. > If there are rules for firing, then those > rules must be followed. The problem is that those rules will allow firing for an offence, the severity of which is subjective. It is common for managers to over rate the severity of any particular offence for their own purposes. Thus the courts are there to reverse the decision if the manager gets it wrong. >If the work is at will, then the employer > should be able to fire the worker for any reason or no reason at > all. Such contracts are completely banned in most European countries - even in the UK which has one of the most lax set of employment rights. > Regarding unions, they are a form of collusion which > interferes with the market. This is no different from any sort of > monopoly and should be limited. It is (limited). tim
From: tim.... on 27 Jan 2010 14:22
"Tom P" <werotizy(a)freent.dd> wrote in message news:7sbf0vFfsqU1(a)mid.individual.net... > tim.... wrote: >> "Tom P" <werotizy(a)freent.dd> wrote in message >> news:7savtrFkf6U1(a)mid.individual.net... >>> Gregory Morrow wrote: >>>> Earl Evleth wrote: >>>> >>>>> On 27/01/10 12:19, in article >>>>> DsCdnWI0k5Crgv3WnZ2dnUVZ_tudnZ2d(a)earthlink.com, "Gregory Morrow" >>>>> <rrrrrrrrrorrr(a)rrrnrjj.fi> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> But the court said in its written judgement: "The dismissal was too >>>>>> severe a measure. It is just a slice of cheese," reports AFP news >>>>>> agency. >>>>> A reprimand was more in order. >>>>> >>>>> Drastic treatment of workers is a hallmark of modern, >>>>> profits-are-everything Capitalism. Basically >>>>> terrorize the workers. >>>>> >>>>> To repeat, Capitalism has no social goals, it lacks >>>>> human empathy. It ranks with Fascism in that regard. >>>> >>>> This kerfuffle is something I'd expect in the US, not in the EU where >>>> worker - protection laws are stronger... >>>> >>> You'd be surprised. In Germany we've had several such cases recently in >>> court where the employees lost. I can't remember the details of all the >>> cases but one such case was a secretary who was fired for eating a >>> sandwich that was left over after a management meeting. >> >> I find that hard to believe. >> >> That is standard practice everywhere I have worked, including in Germany. >> >> tim >> >> > Maybe you haven't been following the news for the past year. There were > other cases where women working in shops were sacked for the most trivial > reasons - IIRC one was a bakery where the woman ate a piece of bread that > would have been thrown away otherwise, another in a shop where the cashier > had pocketed some gift stamps that a customer didn't want. > The situation is different where the individual's job is to "dispense" the food as they could have some influence on deciding what is to be thrown away. tim |