After just 6 months at a store in the Wellington region one worker had the following horror stories to tell...

"I had to give up my house as they weren't giving me enough hours, i was hired as full time and they cut me down to below 30 hours, they knew if they didn't increase them me and my 2 year old daughter would become homeless and they still did nothing, my hours did not increase until I contacted the union but this was after I had lost my house."

"I have been made to work several times while sick, the last time I was extremely sick I walked out on my break to go to the doctors and didn't go back that day, they claimed they couldn't find anyone to cover my shift which is why they wouldn't let me go. I was curled up on the floor in immense pain. The doctor was horrified when I turned up as they were making me work in such a state."

"Once I had food poisoning, from the store I worked in no less, and they wouldn't let me go home then either."

"I once asked for my 15 minute break and all I was told by a manager was 'stop complaining, I haven't had mine either'."

"I called in sick not long ago and the manager I spoke to did nothing about it and I was put down as a no show. That did get sorted though before they called me in for a disciplinary meeting."

"There are lots more similar to this and I know I'm not the only staff member with these types of complaints."

A worker with epilepsy collapsed on her way to work after being made to work a closing shift and then being rostered to start at 6:30am the next morning. Management knew of the workers’ condition at the time and has continued to ignore requests to provide them with regular shifts that would help ease the stress on their condition.

A 16 year old worker was too scared to call his restaurant to find out his rostered shifts because he was repeatedly ‘growled’ after he previously called in to find out his rostered times.

A youth worker worked a 24 hour shift after being asked to stay on because he was worried that his future shifts would be cut as a punishment.

Workers at a Wellington store are told they can't go home early if they are feeling sick. One worker had to finish up her shift even though she was vomiting. Another worker fainted while working and, after a short rest, was made to finish up the rest of her shift.

A worker was being bullied at work and rotten tomatoes from the restaurant were put through his car. Rather than trying to solve the problem of bullying, the owner forced the worker that was being bullied to take two weeks annual leave and transferred him to a different store. McDonald's have made no offer to help out with the $200 bill for having to get the car professionally cleaned.

At one store a managers has a habit of picking on younger crew and yelled at a crew member in front of customers. A customer went up to that crew member and told them that the manager was a “jerk”.

One 18 year old Asian worker was told “Go back to Asia, Go home” by drunk customers.

Managers often swear at staff at one restaurant saying to staff, “Your so dumb, your so stupid, your useless.”

At one restaurant a worker had to clean up a bathroom, after a disgruntled customer had defecated on the floor.

At a restaurant in West Auckland a women had her hours cut down and after falling behind on rent payments was forced to move in with her cousin’s family. She was promised full time when she started but gets little more than 15 hours a week.