A warning would have been more appropriate. Kid clearly didn't know he was doing anything wrong, so they could have just put him straight and that would be that.

This is the whole problem with the US's "at-will" employment laws. Yes, you can fire someone for gross misconduct in the UK, but you can't simply fire someone because you don't like the look of their face like you can in the US. The more I learn about the US, the more messed up that country seems to be.

I can't believe how many crazy "stealing trash bags is wrong" lunatics were responding. I'm not saying stealing is okay, but the point is letting a willing employee go for such a triviality is massively stupid and short-sighted considering the cost v. benefit of having to hire and train a new person to do the work. And the loon who said this would cause a rash of trashbag thefts by every employee in the company...seriously? Even if it happened it wouldn't make a blip against all the other waste and issues these companies have. That guy really must live under a flipping rock, with no real life experience at all.

This could have been an informal warning. To fire someone for that is just silly.

Work don't pays for my pen and paper. If I print out a navigation sheet for work, I will reuse the backside for shopping lists not associated with work, unless I buy a new pen or so... People should just see the proportion. While stealing is stealing, of course, the value does matter. A warning may have been legit, firing him not. Also - I know a guy who stole toilet paper and got fired over it ... after he developed a massice diarrhea from the crappy food at work and his shift ended in the middle of the night, so no chance buying some on his own. Unfair? Sure. But he also didn't hide anything or so...

Generally, when you catch someone stealing, even something small, it’s not the first time they stole from the company, it’s just the first time they got caught. Over the years, I had two employees who stole small things (stapler and staples for one, shoe polish for another}and both times I regretted not letting them go on the spot. One guy ended up getting arrested in our store for theft elsewhere . The second guy left on his own but we kept finding things missing for months. He stole everything from $300 cowboy boots to our broom!

Okay, let's see it from the manager's POV. If this kid is casually taking garbage bags without permission, in full view of the assistant manager, what is he doing wrong when the management isn't around? Or what if he escalates to taking food, or money from the till? If the manager's bosses found out that they kept this kid on after knowing he was already stealing, the manager could be fired. There are probably also company policies about that (it's Mcdonalds, I'm certain they have policies for literally any possible scenario), and part of the manager's job is simply to follow them. For all of the "just let it go" people, where do you draw the line? From a corporate perspective, theft is theft. That's the line. If he had just asked, then this situation wouldn't have come up.

Pay your employees a living wage and they wont have to steal rubbish bags.

Stealing is stealing and is unacceptable. It doesn't matter if it a trash bag or a car. It's just plain wrong!!!

Crazy. Worked at a swiss chocolate factory, and guess what: people took tons of chocolate home. Usual rule was the line manager has to accept, and then it’s fine. Some weeks before christmas 100-200kg were missing 😂🤣

When you say " took 3 garbage bags" what you really mean is "stealing from the company he works for". What if the environment of the workplace was " hey! Take whatever you want"? The cost of that!! Let me remind you you that theft is built in to every single the you pay for at every store you shop at. Wouldn't it be nice if your friend bought his own damn trash bags??

In the UK at least, almost all McD's are a franchise so it's up to the manager to set all the rules, but as already stated the kid could have asked for them, the manager probably saw it as "what else is he taking when he wants to, or what else will he take later on? More importantly though, my brain still hurts from reading "posted notes", argh!!!!!

Of its office property never take it home. If you want to ask first. It might just be something ordinary, or inexpensive but it's still office property. Uou wouldn't like me take something from your home without asking you would you?

I think the issue is he didn't ask he just took which isn't acceptable. Alright I think firing him was the extreme but maybe they could have written him up and explained to the staff why they can't take those things because as someone pointed out it all adds up if everyone did it. I can't even take cardboard home without having to ask first

When I was 15, I worked at a bakery. We were allowed to eat anything we wanted, provided we logged it on “the munchie list.” At the end of her shift, my friend grabbed a couple cookies on her way out the door, held them up and said, “I’m taking these.” Owners saw her “running out the door with stolen cookies” and fired her the next day.

Reminds me of the Johnny Cash song, "One piece at a time", where he works in a Detroit car factory and steals a car part every day. So in the end he can build his entire car, struggling to bodge it together to make a '53 engine fit the '72 transmission etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18cW_yHo3PY

Maybe there was something else in the background and the manager was just looking for the opportunity to fire the guy? Just a guess, seen that before...

When I was a teenager there was sooo much I didn't know. I grew up in a very rural area and I'm a bit clueless besides. If he was an otherwise decent employee (even showing up when you say you will is fairly rare) I would have done a lot to keep him. Just let him know more about what is and isn't acceptable. If he did it again that's something else, but it sounds like he had no idea what he was doing could be construed badly.

He took something without explicit permission. That's more like not realizing you should ask before assuming it's yours for the taking. Was that even made clear that you should not take anything home that was considered property of the employer. It's also true that if everyone starts taking something home this could add up after a while. Still it doesn't really make it reason enough to get fired for it. They could have taken it out of his wages and put ample warning that nothing was to be taken home or he could maybe given them back too. Managers could also do with some courses on how to handle their staff and make sure there's a pleasant and jovial contact between all staffmembers. Putting down he is a thief is making sure he will not find another job anytime soon...That's not showing a lot of compassion and overkill.

I took a lot of tea boxes from my workplace when i was leaving it.. It was great quality tea ordered basically specially for me by the owner himself. The other receptionist didn't drink that tea and had her own kind ordered for her x.x It was really nice workplace