Ben Williams
Although McDonald’s might be one of the most familiar sights on high streets and motorways around the world, behind the counter, things run to a surprisingly strict playbook.
The chain has more than 44,000 restaurants globally, and while every country has its own quirks and regional favourites, the company still expects its employees to follow certain universal standards: some straightforward, others being lesser known.
As the brand has modernised with delivery apps like Deliveroo, digital ordering and self-service kiosks, its internal expectations have grown just as carefully refined. You don’t get to be one of the biggest fast food empires on the planet by leaving too much to chance, after all.
While McDonald’s doesn’t technically hold the record for the most restaurant locations worldwide (that title goes to Chinese ice-cream chain, Mixue), it’s still hard to find a country where you can’t sniff out a Maccies within driving distance.
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Be that as it may, there’s one rule that applies to staff in every single restaurant, from Manchester to Miami, and it’s not what most customers would guess. It’s also a policy that has caused real tension for the company this year, leading to high-profile industry disagreements in the US and a very awkward moment for anyone who tries to do something they think is a nice gesture.
The little-known rule is simple: McDonald’s workers are not allowed to accept tips. The company spelt it out clearly on its website: “Tips are not accepted as McDonald's restaurants have a team environment, which is not about rewarding individuals. If a customer would like to make a donation then they can do so in the RMHC boxes.”
Turning down extra cash might seem strange in a world where tipping is practically automatic in some countries, but the policy puts employees in an awkward spot when someone tries to slip them an extra note.
In the United States, that awkwardness is even more complicated. Many food service workers rely heavily on tips, with the federal minimum wage sitting at just $2.13 an hour in jobs where workers can expect tipping, or $7.25 without.
That huge gap means many restaurants pay staff less on the assumption that customers will make up the difference, something McDonald’s has openly pushed back against.
The company even walked away from the National Restaurant Association earlier in the year in protest over tipped-wage policies.
CEO Chris Kempczinski summed up McDonald’s position in an interview with CNBC.
Kempczinski said: “Part of what I think we need to do in this minimum wage conversation is, let’s start with everybody should be paying the same minimum wage, whether that’s tipped or non-tipped.”
He added that in the eight states where there’s no difference between the two, saying: “We already know there’s about eight states that have no difference between tipped and non-tipped, and we know that in those states, poverty levels decrease… We know that turnover levels go down. We know that actually it doesn’t lead to any job loss.”
In the UK, the rule takes on a more sentimental angle. Customers are encouraged to put their loose change in the Ronald McDonald House Charities boxes instead, supporting families who need accommodation near their child’s hospital ward. So while tipping might feel like a nice way to say thanks, at McDonald’s, the kindest thing you can do is drop your spare coins in the box on the counter instead.