Supermacs manager sacked over incidents that cost firm €2.75

Coat22

Delighted for the woman who won this case - some conditions to work in if you could get sacked (or even warned) over this.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/supermac-s-manager-sacked-over-incidents-that-cost-firm-2-75-1.2667561

Coat22

Ah Jaysus! Whats happened the title of the thread?:silly:

Mod - can you fix?

jimgoose

Little bollix of an MD has no business sticking his oar in an affair costing the price of a hamburger which is being attended to by a store manager. He should have his hole kicked by the CEO, and also sack the little prick of a duty manager that threw the €2 at that cashier who made a couple of minor errors.

2smiggy

pity they did not name the managing director , or the duty manager. they sound delightful people to work for

osarusan

During cross-examination at the EAT, the MD confirmed the company does not have a written policy in respect of differentiating between theft and mistakes.

Sounds absolutely horrible.

Duggy747

Those 2 managers sound like complete brown-nosing dickheads, the type who throw anybody under the bridge in order to climb the ranks and view their ground staff as pond life.

The manager worked with Supermacs for 19 years with no previous problems but she was dismissed over 2 tiny incidents from one staff member. That should say enough about that company and their policies.

ballsymchugh

Duggy747 wrote: »

Those 2 managers sound like a complete brown-nosing dickheads, the type who throw anybody under the bridge in order to climb the ranks and view their staff as pond life.

The manager worked with Supermacs for 19 years with no previous problems but she was dismissed over 2 tiny incidents from one staff member. That should say enough about that company and their policies.

important to note that it's a franchise. don't know if that's supermac's policy from this

jimgoose

Duggy747 wrote: »

...That should say enough about that company and their policies.

MacDonagh needs to get on this very fast, and kick that MD hard. It's a HR policy disaster.

Coat22

Duggy747 wrote: »

Those 2 managers sound like complete brown-nosing dickheads, the type who throw anybody under the bridge in order to climb the ranks and view their ground staff as pond life.

The manager worked with Supermacs for 19 years with no previous problems but she was dismissed over 2 tiny incidents from one staff member. That should say enough about that company and their policies.

In fairness to Supermacs it was some franchise operation running 2 shops in Limerick but if I were them I'd move swiftly to disassociate Supermacs from them.

Got to say I was shocked - reckon I've had given the kids about 25 of company pencils in the last year and people are getting sacked and treated like this over a few extra poxy chips?

eeguy

Really it only cost them 75c.

The guy put 2 quid in the till.

The Backwards Man

Managerial roles, disciplinary action, gross misconduct. Ye sell burgers and doggy chips lads, get a hold of yourselves. No way in hell would i ever work for a firm that had notions of itself like that, and wonder they attract assholes to work for them.

Coat22

eeguy wrote: »

Really it only cost them 75c.

The guy put 2 quid in the till.

It cost them about 3c I'd say - 10 extra chips and 100ml extra coke/ice mix

Summer wind

This is the most stupid and ridiculous news I've ever read.

gordongekko

How come the poor victim gets name but that bollocks doesn't?

Maireadio

That is utterly insane. I thought the headline might just be clickbait but nope, it really is as bad as it sounds. She deserved the damages she received and I hope any new employers aren't put off by her name coming up in a google search! The incidents are so unbelivably minor. I worked in Tesco for a while in college, and we were allowed up to a €5 discrepancy on the tills every day because it's understood that little mistakes happen. And the cashier having the €2 flung back at him? Sounds like a power-mad asshole of a duty manager. The cashier shouldn't have given the free drink but was obviously trying to rectify it by paying for the drink themselves.

RayCon

I can only hope the bad press generated by this hurts Supermacs to the tune of a lot more than €2.75. Ars3wipes

osarusan

RayCon wrote: »

I can only hope the bad press generated by this hurts Supermacs to the tune of a lot more than €2.75. Ars3wipes

This was a company that operates 2 shops on a franchise system, rather than Supermacs itself.

But it's horrible publicity for Supermacs either way. I wonder will they get involved somehow.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Why in the name of jazus would a bleedin chipper (and not even a good one at that) need an MD and CEO???

It just goes to show how irrelevant and wasteful having someone as MD when they feel the need (and demanded) that they should have been involved in an incident(s) which cost the firm €2.75! What a bloody joke!

Maireadio

Speaking of my time at Tesco, some supervisors and duty managers in these roles are just thoroughly unpleasant and don't tend to (and sorry to use this office-speak phrase) think outside the box. They just stick rigidly and pettily to "da rules".

I remember serving a lady and she walked off without her purse. I ran after her to give it back to her just before she made it out the door. Now it was a Saturday and busy and there as a bit of a queue but it just took me a second to do. But I just wanted to save her the hassle and stress of freaking out elsewhere when she realised she didn't have her purse and having to retrace her steps. My supervisor angrily yelled at me for doing this. I actually still remember it was that kind of yelling where you can see that the person is gritting their teeth at you. I just thought it was so over the top for what I did and it wasn't like I left the till open or something. There are some truly joyless people out there who just don't want to listen to reason at all. And they are horrible to work for.

ShooterSF

Ha the acronym for the tribunal is EAT

Riesen_Meal

Are all SuperMacs franchise's?

Like Micky D's?

Mrsbananas

Did I miss something about the theft of the drink?
How do they know it didn't go something like
'Hi Uncle X I'm in town and I've only just got bus fair home but I'm really thirsty' X gives her drink and says I'll fix it up at the end of my shift as I don't keep cash on me. End of shift comes and he tells duty manager I gave niece a drink earlier here is the €2.
I don't see that as theft I see it as paying later. Maybe i'm wring but nowhere does it say that he was seen giving away a free drink and when approached offered to pay. Nor was it seen about the large meal, he told the manager he made a mistake.

KlausFlouride

General rule of thumb, the worst & least well paid jobs have the most petty rules and assholes who are happy to enforce them.

That's not about the tiny amount of money, I will take a guess the owners of the franchise were not happy at the amount they were paying the store manager and were trying to engineer a way of getting her on to a lower paying position.

They must be stupid thought to think that was going to work and that she was not going to go to the EAT.

razorblunt

Technically hasn't the duty manager stolen the 2quid from the till to throw it?
Off with his head!

nkav86

From working in fast food restaurants for years, this doesn't surprise me at all! Managers, some not all, generally are on a power trip. I don't know what it is about the environment, but it tends to attract a certain type of person, power hungry, egotistical and rigid. They just seem to love to catch something so they can report it to higher ups, hoping for that oh so important pat on the back. Pathetic!

osarusan

Mrsbananas wrote: »

I don't see that as theft I see it as paying later. Maybe i'm wring but nowhere does it say that he was seen giving away a free drink and when approached offered to pay. Nor was it seen about the large meal, he told the manager he made a mistake.

From the link:

During cross-examination at the EAT, the MD confirmed the company does not have a written policy in respect of differentiating between theft and mistakes.

I don't understand why the guy didn't just ring up a sale for the drink and put the money in then, even if it was hours after the drink have been given away. Orders and takings would all have totted up properly then.

Or I do understand really, the w@nker of a duty manager was already 'on the case' at that point.

HensVassal

Maireadio wrote: »

That is utterly insane. I thought the headline might just be clickbait but nope, it really is as bad as it sounds. She deserved the damages she received and I hope any new employers aren't put off by her name coming up in a google search! The incidents are so unbelivably minor. I worked in Tesco for a while in college, and we were allowed up to a €5 discrepancy on the tills every day because it's understood that little mistakes happen. And the cashier having the €2 flung back at him? Sounds like a power-mad asshole of a duty manager. The cashier shouldn't have given the free drink but was obviously trying to rectify it by paying for the drink themselves.

He didn't give away a free drink. It sounds to me like his niece (who probably didn't have any pocket money) came in to see him and say hello. He bought her a soft drink. He just didn't ring up the soft drink at the same time as he put the price of it in the till. That's why that cocksucker of a duty manager said "too late"

ShooterSF

mariaalice wrote: »

That not about the tiny amount of money, I will take a guess the owners of the franchise were not happy at the amount they were paying the store manager and were trying to engineer a way of getting her on to a lower paying position.

They must be stupid thought to think that was going to work and that she was not going to go to the EAP.

The sad thing is this happened a coworker of mine years ago, ended up manager but the company was looking to get rid and pay someone less to do the job so they made the manager position "redundant". He brought them to tribunal and won but has had terrible problems getting any work since as future employers ask if you had disputes with previous ones and they just don't want anything to do with you if you did.

hairyslug

2smiggy wrote: »

pity they did not name the managing director , or the duty manager. they sound delightful people to work for

<snip>



Mod: No public outings or defaming here please

ShooterSF

ShooterSF wrote: »

The sad thing is this happened a coworker of mine years ago, ended up manager but the company was looking to get rid and pay someone less to do the job so they made the manager position "redundant". He brought them to tribunal and won but has had terrible problems getting any work since as future employers ask if you had disputes with previous ones and they just don't want anything to do with you if you did.

I suppose it depends on the situation I doubt future employers would have any issue with this manager.

If she has worked there 19 years, she is probably hard working and maybe doesn't cause a fuss and because of that they though they would get away with it. There are people who would have take the other position that was offered to them even at lower pay.

Dyr

If I had an irish times subscription I'd be outraged

imitation

Honestly 19k after working for 19 years for a company is a joke after being fired like that.

Fries-With-That

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Why in the name of jazus would a bleedin chipper (and not even a good one at that) need an MD and CEO???

It just goes to show how irrelevant and wasteful having someone as MD when they feel the need (and demanded) that they should have been involved in an incident(s) which cost the firm €2.75! What a bloody joke!

far be it from me to defend Supermacs or a franchise owner, but you seem to underestimate the size of the business.

From previous experience in the fast food business I can tell you that this business has upwards of 50 employees, several shift managers and a minimum of 2 store managers.

The incident in question was handled badly, and the store manager should not have been treated the way she was. If you read the report the owner of the business was aggrieved that their store manager had not informed them of the incidents, thus indicating a lack of professionalism on behalf of the store manager.

The shift manager that reported the incidents to the MD was following procedure after they had informed the store manager, the store manager took no action(both incidents are grounds for dismissal) and in effect undermined the shift manager.

If you work in a business where your staff can and do have the oppourtinuty to give stock to patrons for free, they (the staff) have to know that you cannot give out large meals for the price of regular meals and you cannot give out stock and replace the money later.

Each action would be against any companies policies.

Chain of command, shift manager alerts store manager, store manager alerts MD ( franchisee) any further action is taken in consultation with MD, if the store manager leaves the MD out of the loop, then they leave themselves open for disciplinary action themselves.

It may sound like a petty incident, but as a MD(franchisee) where does it stop, if staff think they can get away with giving out free food, the business will become unmanageable.

I feel sorry for the store manager, but after 19 years in the business they were well aware of how these incidences are dealt with.

However no free food was been given to anyone, The most that should have happened is that the manager had to attend some training re the company policy on the issue or even a quick chat along the lines of how employees must stick to company policy on mistake, fraud ect. That should have been the end of the issue.

cajonlardo

Its a genuine pity that any person in this country needs a job so badly that they would allow that ar$ewipe throw the €2 at them.
Sooner or later he will throw something at the wrong person and he'll learn a lesson he will never forget.

valoren

Would the action of throwing a €2 coin at a subordinate employee be against company policy?

Jayop

So accidentally giving a large meal in place of a regular one is something that should be escalated all the way to the MD? What a joke. I worked in pubs, restaurants, chippy and once in a KFC and I never seen such bolloxology as that. Sure if someone is stealing then report it but the manager had dealt with what was an accident and gave a verbal warning. What further action should or could have been taken? What's the point in being the store manager if you can't decide on issues like this. It's also not like the store had firm procedures in place when they can't differentiate between a theft and an accident.

Given some of the settlements we've seen recently the only surprise is that she didn't get much more and she would have deserved it. 19 bloody years. She should have gotten the full redundancy amount.

ballsymchugh

ballsymchugh wrote: »

important to note that it's a franchise. don't know if that's supermac's policy from this

True. While Supermacs would have influence marketing wise, if this is an individual company that is running a Supermacs franchise then I would doubt the likes of Pat Mcdonagh would have much say on their company policy.

However, its very alarming how this vile, toxic, disgusting corporate culture seems to have gripped us especially since the recession. Low skilled jobs in particular are really getting it in the neck and people are having to bite the bullet and put up with it.

Coat22

imitation wrote: »

Honestly 19k after working for 19 years for a company is a joke after being fired like that.

Jayop wrote: »

Given some of the settlements we've seen recently the only surprise is that she didn't get much more and she would have deserved it. 19 bloody years. She should have gotten the full redundancy amount.

The max the EAT can award is 2 years net pay if memory serves me right. I'm sure her net was higher than 9.5k per year but the fact that she'd gotten a new job probably weighed against the award (wrongly IMO).

Agree with your points though - the franchose effectively engineered a forced redundancy on this woman but even so her only entitlement in a redundancy scenario would have been 2 weeks (to a max of 600 per week) per year which would have been 38 weeks pay. The award would seem to reflect this ( 500 a week).

HensVassal

RayCon wrote: »

I can only hope the bad press generated by this hurts Supermacs to the tune of a lot more than €2.75. Ars3wipes

The MD was actually the MD of Watchford Ltd.

Maireadio

HensVassal wrote: »

He didn't give away a free drink.

That's the exact wording in the article. Whether he did it because she had no money or because he wanted to give her a free drink and then regretted it and wanted to rectify, who knows? It's not clear from the information given. But anyway, it was minor. Some people who rigidly follow the rules often seem not too bright or just cannot read other humans very well and a lot of them seem to end up in managerial positions for reason.

HensVassal

Fries-With-That wrote: »

far be it from me to defend Supermacs or a franchise owner, but you seem to underestimate the size of the business.

From previous experience in the fast food business I can tell you that this business has upwards of 50 employees, several shift managers and a minimum of 2 store managers.

The incident in question was handled badly, and the store manager should not have been treated the way she was. If you read the report the owner of the business was aggrieved that their store manager had not informed them of the incidents, thus indicating a lack of professionalism on behalf of the store manager.

The shift manager that reported the incidents to the MD was following procedure after they had informed the store manager, the store manager took no action(both incidents are grounds for dismissal) and in effect undermined the shift manager.

If you work in a business where your staff can and do have the oppourtinuty to give stock to patrons for free, they (the staff) have to know that you cannot give out large meals for the price of regular meals and you cannot give out stock and replace the money later.

Each action would be against any companies policies.

Chain of command, shift manager alerts store manager, store manager alerts MD ( franchisee) any further action is taken in consultation with MD, if the store manager leaves the MD out of the loop, then they leave themselves open for disciplinary action themselves.

It may sound like a petty incident, but as a MD(franchisee) where does it stop, if staff think they can get away with giving out free food, the business will become unmanageable.

I feel sorry for the store manager, but after 19 years in the business they were well aware of how these incidences are dealt with.

D'ya want fries with that?

heroics

Fries-With-That wrote: »

far be it from me to defend Supermacs or a franchise owner, but you seem to underestimate the size of the business.

From previous experience in the fast food business I can tell you that this business has upwards of 50 employees, several shift managers and a minimum of 2 store managers.

The incident in question was handled badly, and the store manager should not have been treated the way she was. If you read the report the owner of the business was aggrieved that their store manager had not informed them of the incidents, thus indicating a lack of professionalism on behalf of the store manager.

The shift manager that reported the incidents to the MD was following procedure after they had informed the store manager, the store manager took no action(both incidents are grounds for dismissal) and in effect undermined the shift manager.

If you work in a business where your staff can and do have the oppourtinuty to give stock to patrons for free, they (the staff) have to know that you cannot give out large meals for the price of regular meals and you cannot give out stock and replace the money later.

Each action would be against any companies policies.

Chain of command, shift manager alerts store manager, store manager alerts MD ( franchisee) any further action is taken in consultation with MD, if the store manager leaves the MD out of the loop, then they leave themselves open for disciplinary action themselves.

It may sound like a petty incident, but as a MD(franchisee) where does it stop, if staff think they can get away with giving out free food, the business will become unmanageable.

I feel sorry for the store manager, but after 19 years in the business they were well aware of how these incidences are dealt with.

You cant be serious.

Whats the point in having a manager let alone a senior manager if they can't deal with simple stuff like this. The total value of the mistakes was 75 cent.

It is a petty incident. All it took was a warning from the store manager which the employee got not an escalation to MD. If an MD is worried about an incident costing 75 cent he has little to worry about and to be honest the woman is better off out of that company.

cowboyBuilder

KlausFlouride wrote: »

General rule of thumb, the worst & least well paid jobs have the most petty rules and assholes who are happy to enforce them.

Indeed, like supermarket managers or worst assistant or trainee managers - reserved for a special special special type of absolute cunt

jimgoose

Fries-With-That wrote: »

...The shift manager that reported the incidents to the MD was following procedure after they had informed the store manager, the store manager took no action(both incidents are grounds for dismissal) and in effect undermined the shift manager...

The shift manager was a horrible little suckhole that wanted to see the poor cashier that made a mistake strung up. Here is the news: this is not a Manging Director-level incident, and is sort of thing that makes me want to take a job for a week or two at one of these places during my vacation, in the hope that some pencil-necked little shit throws a coin at me, and I can then deep-fry his eyebrows.

whiskeyman

Stories like this remind me that I work with a top bunch of people (management included!) and I'm so lucky.

I pity those poor folk who work with / below total feckers who've no respect or cop on.

Bandana boy

I have no idea how much she was originally on , but with that service and a supposedly senior role , is €19 K not peanuts and a real win for the Company in question.
I know she could have been awarded up to 2 years salary. Costs of course need to be covered but I assume this will probably work out cheaper than giving her a redundancy settlement from the get go.(assuming they pay more than statutory)

BattleCorp

cajonlardo wrote: »

Its a genuine pity that any person in this country needs a job so badly that they would allow that ar$ewipe throw the €2 at them.
Sooner or later he will throw something at the wrong person and he'll learn a lesson he will never forget.

If my boss threw a coin at me I'd throw both fists back in his direction repeatedly.

Seriously though, throwing something an an employee (or anybody) is assault.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Absolutely ridiculous over reaction to two small incidents which were being handled by the store manager.

The whole business says more about the shift manager and, in particular, the Managing Director than it does about the store manager. Their judgment was abysmal and their method of 'managing' deplorable.

jmayo

cajonlardo wrote: »

Its a genuine pity that any person in this country needs a job so badly that they would allow that ar$ewipe throw the €2 at them.
Sooner or later he will throw something at the wrong person and he'll learn a lesson he will never forget.

I know a few people who worked part time in that industry and if the little shyte had done that to them he would be lucky not to have gotten his head introduced to a frier.

Deleted User wrote: »

True. While Supermacs would have influence marketing wise, if this is an individual company that is running a Supermacs franchise then I would doubt the likes of Pat Mcdonagh would have much say on their company policy.

However, its very alarming how this vile, toxic, disgusting corporate culture seems to have gripped us especially since the recession. Low skilled jobs in particular are really getting it in the neck and people are having to bite the bullet and put up with it.

Surely Supermacs have something about dragging their brand and reputation into the mud.

Also the other thing I notice is they have one operation and Watchford's register address in Dooradoyle and the other one on Ennis Road where she was offered lower position.

It could well have been a way of getting her out of the company as depending on where she lived, work was now miles away and she was probably on lower salary.

Here is an idea.
If you live near or in Limerick, avoid those Supermacs.

When it hurts their pockets the pricks might appreciate people more.