McDonald's is notoriously a fair employer (our Regional HR teams are very proud of that fact) and at times it does feel like my staff can get away with murder, but that's not what this post is about. This one is about my staff under 22.

They do a job that is always at least equal to my team who are 22 and over, work just as hard and get all the same job perks as everyone else.

But they are on a different pay scale.

Why?

Like i said, they work just as hard as anyone else but take less home.

Looking at the www.makeupyourownmind.co.uk site for reasons why (can't be bothered harrassing HR about it) a similar question put to the Head Office team was answered as follows,

All McDonald's rates of pay are reviewed each year in light of external market competitiveness, internal comparability and National Minimum Wage legislation. Like many other retailers, McDonald's pays a lower starting rate to crew members aged under 18 - currently, £4.00 per hour compared to £4.25 for crew members aged 18 - 21. All McDonald's employees are paid the appropriate wage at or above the government's minimum wage. Currently less than 17% of hourly paid employees are on national minimum wage.

 
Now, I wouldn't like to sound cynical (!!!!) but as far as market competitiveness goes, McDonald's could set the standard if it wanted to.

McDonald's recently highlighted how age friendly it is with several staff in Manchester over 65. Maybe it's time to stamp out discrimination at the other end of the scale by bringing all staff onto a level playing field: after all, the expectation for them is just as high on their shifts, they may as well be rewarded for it.

If this one doesn't start an internal investigation into who's writing blogs about the company, nothing will!