I worked in McDonalds in Portsmouth while a student,
during the summers of 1990 and 91, and was subject to a number of
illegal employment practices while working there. On both occasions I
was contracted to work a 40-hour week (supposedly a full-time position),
yet regularly received shifts which amounted to between a quarter and a
half of this time, so that my take-home pay was often no more than #30
per week. On the second occasion, I was informed that due to the
increasing length of the 'closes' at that particular restaurant, we
would be clocked off at 1.30am and forced to work for free until the job
was done. Sometimes this took until 3am or longer. Of course there was
also the common practice of working way past the legal maximum you're
supposed to be able to work without a break - sometimes 6 or 7 hours or
more. For some morning shifts (for example, 6am to 3 or 4pm), the
single 3/4 hour break would be imposed at around 8.30am (while the
restaurant was at its quietest). This meant a constant period of work
from 9.15am to mid-afternoon - strenuous and demanding work, in an
understaffed environment, with no break or let-up.These appalling conditions were imposed by the management at that
particular restaurant, but I got the feeling they were tied by targets
imposed by head office. What makes it worse is that a large percentage
of the workforce consisted of people like students and young mothers -
from age 16 upwards. It is the most criminal exploitation of the most
vulnerable people in society - those least able to fight back and the
least likely to.