A recent visit to the McDonald’s in Ponoka left a bad taste in Richard Onslow’s mouth.
Two weeks ago, a store employee made a mistake on Onslow’s order which resulted in the customer getting part of it for free.
The on-site manager made the cashier pay the $8 loss.
“She said it was part of orientation, that they were told they have to pay for mistakes like that so they learn not to do it again,” Onslow told CTV News.
Now, the employee has been reimbursed—but not before a Facebook video by a confused Onslow was seen tens of thousands of times.
He said he made it to alert others to the rights of workers.
In the clip—viewed over 42,000 times as of Tuesday afternoon—Onslow calls the incident “the most ridiculous thing ever.”
“I don’t get how they’re allowed to charge their employees for a small mistake,” Onslow says in the recording.
“Now he’s only making $6 for that hour, or whatever it was, but it’s not even close to minimum wage now because he messed up.”
Onslow said the employee shouldn’t have had to pay—and he’s right.
According to Alberta’s employment standards, deductions for faulty work are prohibited.
Faulty work is defined as “any act or omission of an employee which results in a loss to an employer.”
“Examples of faulty work include accidental damage to an employer’s vehicle or equipment and mistakes in production,” the rules say.
McDonald’s Canada declined an interview request and issued a statement from the owner of the Ponoka McDonald’s.
In it, Tony Hoffman said the event was an “unfortunate misunderstanding and does not reflect my company policy.”
Hoffman contacted both Onslow and the employee to clarify details about the situation, later reimbursing the employee.
“I have also used this as an opportunity to provide further training to my management team,” the statement read.
Onslow said he hopes bringing attention to the incident will make other employees more aware of their rights.
With files from Tyson Fedor
