McDonald’s HK fires employee over social media policy violation

McDonald's Hong Kong has fired an employee for violating its social media policies after he called for paid meal breaks for staff. 

The employee, Luke Ching (程展緯) is known for advocating labour rights. He worked as a part-time janitor at a McDonald's store in Fortune Plaza Arcade in Tai Po for six months. He said on Facebook that he was informed yesterday (26 January) that his contract had been terminated. 

Meanwhile, McDonald's said in a statement to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that the part-time employee had repeatedly shared internal operational and commercial information on public platforms throughout their six-month employment, thus violating the internal policies. 

“We facilitated a sincere dialogue between this individual and our senior management but unfortunately no improvement was observed. After serious consideration, we decided to terminate his employment, in accordance with the terms and compensation stipulated in the employment contract,” the spokesperson added. 

McDonald’s has emphasised that it considers its employees as invaluable assets and has consistently upgraded employee remuneration, allowances, and benefits in strict compliance with and often exceeding law and industry standards. “We regularly review and optimise related measures and implement proactive changes to strive to be a better employer.”

“We have always embraced an open and inclusive culture and have provided our employees various communication channels to express their opinions. We continuously engage in timely assessments of our policies, with a commitment to fostering an environment of trust and transparency,” the spokesperson said. 

This follows Ching's open letter to McDonald's Hong Kong CEO Randy Lai, published through Ming Pao, in which he proposed resuming paid meal breaks for employees, a policy that was eliminated in 2009. He also shared content online advocating for this change, a check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw.

"When I started, my hourly wage was HK$45, just HK$5 above the current minimum wage. After deducting an hour for meal time from my eight-hour shift, I only receive HK$39.375, which is HK$6 less than the minimum wage.” He claimed that many colleagues rush their meals or skip breaks altogether due to the lack of meal break pay, which is a forced choice.

Cheng told Ming Pao that after he emailed McDonald's with feedback, management met with him for over an hour, which he appreciated and followed up with a thank-you letter. However, a week later, the management team informed him he had violated social media guidelines by not using official channels, leading to his termination and a severance of seven days' notice. Cheng stressed that workers have the right to express their opinions through various channels, rejected the decision as hasty and disappointing, and worried it might discourage other employees from discussing company policies.

According to the report, Ching said McDonald's has been operating in Hong Kong for 50 years,  with ongoing discussions about low wages and the absence of meal break pay. He had hoped that McDonald's would take the opportunity to tackle and enhance these issues, but unfortunately, it addressed it in a "brutal" way.

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