McDonald's slammed for budget fail

    STAFF WRITERS
    news.com.au
    July 18, 2013 10:26AM


McDONALD'S has been blasted by wage advocates in the US after it launched a budgeting guide that suggested workers take a second job in order to make ends meet.      

The company's "Practical money skills for life" website, produced in partnership with Visa, aims to help employees control their finances.

However a sample of monthly expenditure has been slammed for being "embarrassing and deeply telling" about the reality of employees living on minimum wage.

The budget assumes workers will earn around US$1,105 per month from their first job, plus US$955 from a second occupation.

However based on the average salary of a McDonald's worker in the US, which is US$7.72 per hour according to job website Glassdoor, staff would spend around 40 hours a week at McDonald's, as well as around 35 hours at a second similarly paid job in order to earn an annual wage of under US$25,000.      

"Basically every facet of this budget is unachievable," Think Progress reported, adding that the sample also vastly underestimates the amount spent on healthcare and household bills.

The financial plan assumes workers pay just US$50 a month for heating, with no allowance for petrol, food, clothes or saving and fails to specify whether it's for a family or single person.

It comes following a lawsuit brought against the company by a former employee, who sued a McDonald's franchise for paying wages on fee-laden debit cards and has been slammed by worker's rights advocates Low Pay is not Okay.    

"Most fast-food workers these days are adults with families to support, and the federal minimum wage of US$7.25 just doesn't cover basic needs like food, health care, rent and transportation," their website states.

Although others say the budget is realistic for those in the low income sector.

"The figures for heating and health insurance in the original Visa/McDonald's sample budget are hard to defend. But overall, it offers a reasonable picture of how a typical person in the lower half of the income spectrum spends his money," The Washington Post reported

It's a far cry from the Australian minimum wage, which is $16.37 an hour, or $622.20 per week full time.

A McDonald's Australia spokeperson said it's important to note the case is specific to the US, with a focus on competitive wages, career development and training in the Australian market.

"We have been a registered training organisation for over 15 years and each year we spend more than A$40 million training our crew, managers and corporate employees."

"Rates of pay vary slightly by state in accordance with our enterprise agreement, and by way of example a 21 year old casual in NSW earns $23.11/hour."

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/worklife/mcdonald8217s-slammed-for-budget-fail/story-e6frfm9r-1226681193539#ixzz2ZRJpJA4m

Also if theres not enough jobs for everyone - how could there possibly be enough jobs for everyone to have 2?

SOB