The Real Reason You Probably Wouldn't Want To Work For Wendy's

When it comes to working at fast-food chains, there are some places you should probably avoid. Not only will you be forced to ensure low pay, but the restaurant's policies may not align with your preferences or needs. Take Wendy's, for instance. Despite being a rather popular name in the industry, some have argued that the chain falls short when it comes to the work environment. 

Comments in a Reddit thread alleged that there was barely any training at the restaurant for new employees. "I was only given 1 training session and just thrown straight into it," one Reddit user wrote. "The training didn't help much, as the people at my store at the time didn't do some stuff how you were supposed to do it. Over time, I just gradually learned all of the positions." We can't confirm these claims or whether they reflect the general experience for Wendy's employees. But if the comments are accurate, that sounds pretty rough, right? Being thrown straight into work without any training might be disastrous, after all. But there are more reasons why you might want to avoid going for a job at Wendy's.

Wendy's employees make very little money, according to Eater. Back in 2018, workers at a Wisconsin Wendy's made a starting wage of about $8 an hour and found themselves working 65-hour weeks (sometimes longer), which led to a protest. In 2019, a handful of employees told Glassdoor that they made $8 to $9 an hour (via Business Insider). Earlier this year, the fast-food chain declared that it would increase its employee's hourly wages by 10 percent for five weeks as they coped with work during the coronavirus pandemic, as explained by CBS 17. That said, some locations had reportedly had a working environment that was far from ideal before the pandemic.

In fact, Wendy's courted controversy after it was accused of not adhering to child labor laws. In January 2020, the brand was hit with a hefty fine for allegedly making minors work more hours and at later times than legally allowed at multiple locations in Massachusetts, according to Fast Company. The state's attorney general said that after being called out and investigated, Wendy's changed its work environment to ensure that it was complying with the rules as far as its minor workers were concerned. It also coughed up a fine of over $400,000 for its actions. Whew.