A mother is imploring parents of teenagers who work to take a vested interest in their workplace environments. In a TikTok, she highlights how oftentimes, young employees will be paired up with adults who don’t necessarily make the best decisions.
Comedian and realtor Michelle Miller McNair (@michellemcomic) shared the case of her own son’s job at McDonald’s, stating how her 17-year-old’s “weird” manager tried coaxing her into allowing him to work 40 hours a week even though it caused his grades to suffer in school.
She posted her PSA to other parents in a viral TikTok which has accrued over 222,000 views as of Saturday.
McNair begins her story by stating that the general manager for the McDonald’s where her 17-year-old son works was fired. Unlike the manager, the TikToker says, her son was “killing it” at his job and she is proud of her child for securing a gig at his age and learning the value of hard work as a teenager.
Her only problem with her son’s new vocation, however, is the number of hours he was scheduled for.
“They’re working him 40 hours a week. Not OK,” she says, after highlighting how he got to purchase his second car from the money he was earning while still being enrolled in honors classes at his high school.
Unfortunately, McNair says her kid’s grades started “slipping” because he was spending so much time at Mickey D’s, so she told her son to tell the manager that he couldn’t take as many shifts moving forward. Apparently, the manager wasn’t a fan of this request and told the young employee to have his mother speak with him to see if they could work something out.
Right out of the gate, McNair seems to think this idea doesn’t make much sense.
She details the particulars of her meeting with the manager and it wasn’t a flattering assessment: she called the man “weird,” telling her his life story as a means of showing how much the team at McDonald’s “cared about [her] son.”
@michellemcomic #mcdonalds @McDonald’s #momofteens #tiktokmom #fyp ♬ original sound – Michelle Miller McNair
McNair says the manager’s exhortations fell on deaf ears as she told her son’s boss she didn’t have any problem with him working there but she did have an issue with him “working 40 hours a week.”
Later on, the “weird” vibe she says she got from him turned out to be rooted in some truth as he was reported for allegedly texting teen female workers in an “inappropriate” manner.
“If you got a teenager working somewhere, talk to them,” she urged. “If your kids are working, talk to them because they are being engaged with adults who don’t make good decisions.”
Some viewers commented how certain states have limits on the number of hours high school students can work.
“Michigan if they are in HS 24hr wk or less when school in session, up to 48hrs during summer,” one person wrote.
Another said, “Isn’t there limits on the number of hours per week during school? my daughter is 15 and it’s only like 3hrs per days in PA.”
It’s important to refer to one’s state laws to see the hours a high school student can and can’t work as it varies on the region. For instance, in Kentucky, folks between the ages of 16 and 17 “may work between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. preceding a school day and between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. preceding a non-school day during a school week. No working hours restrictions apply in weeks when school is not in session,” according to its Labor Cabinet.
The U.S. Department of Labor has a detailed list with the number of hours “minors under 18 in non-farm employment as of January 1, 2024” can work.
In the comments section of McNair’s video, she clarifies that she and her son live in North Carolina, which, according to the online resource, appears to indicate high schoolers can indeed work 40 hours per week. There are certain restrictions for the particular shifts/times of the day that they can work, however, parents/schools can give permission slips that override those rulings.
The Daily Dot has reached out to McDonald’s and McNair via email for further comment.