Safe and Respectful Workplace

This employee handbook contains information about the employment policies and practices of GFM. We expect each employee to read this handbook carefully as it is a valuable reference for understanding your job and company.

This handbook, however, cannot anticipate every situation or answer every question about your employment. The contents of this handbook do not create an employment contract. In order to retain necessary flexibility, GFM reserves the right to change or revise policies, procedures, and benefits described in this handbook, without notice, whenever GFM determines that such action is warranted. This handbook supersedes all previous handbooks and statements or policies published or distributed by GFM and all inconsistent written or oral statements.

Welcome To Our Team!

GFM, LLC and Crawshaw Enterprises, LLC. (“GFM”) is an independent, locally owned franchise of The McDonald’s Corporation. You have joined one of the greatest brands in the world. We are confident that you will be an important asset to our team and will help us serve the highest quality food and create great experiences for our customers.

By joining GFM, you have opened up a world of opportunities. You will learn important life skills such as time management, the ability to teach and coach others and the ability to think on your feet. We will give you a flexible schedule and the opportunity to make friends. We look forward to having you on our team and contributing to the success of the restaurant as well as your own development.

EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION COMPLIANCE POLICY

In compliance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (“IRCA”) and any other applicable federal, state or local laws, GFM is committed to:

Employing only those who are authorized to work in the US.
Not discriminate on the basis of national origin or citizenship in hiring, recruiting or terminating employees.

Every employee of GFM must adhere to all aspects of this policy. Failure to comply with IRCA may subject GFM and any responsible individuals to civil monetary or criminal penalties. Violations of this policy may be grounds for employee discipline, up to and including termination of employment.

All employees must complete Section 1 of the Form I-9 no later than the first day of employment, and must present acceptable documents authorized by the USCIS proving identity and employment authorization no later than the third day after starting employment with GFM. The I-9 employment eligibility verification process must be completed for each new employee within the required time frame. There are no exceptions to this requirement.

GFM may not request more or different documents than are required to verify employment eligibility, reject reasonably genuine-looking documents, or specify certain documents over others with the purpose or intent of discriminating on the basis of citizenship status or national origin. U.S. citizens and all other work-authorized individuals are protected from unfair documentary practices.

Employees who do not complete the process within the required time frame will be terminated immediately.

GFM prohibits retaliation against applicants or employees who assert their rights under the anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act and/or IRCA.

OPEN DOOR POLICY

In our spirit of willingness to listen, GFM believes in an open door policy. In order to have communication, there must be mutual respect. You are encouraged to see your immediate supervisor with suggestions, questions or problems relating to your job or feelings of well-being. Your supervisor’s assistance may involve getting the aid of other resource persons. You also can exercise your privilege of requesting a meeting with the Director of Operations or the Owner.

Please remember – don’t keep a problem inside. You can’t reach a solution if no one knows about it. You may use this procedure without fear of reprisal.

EEO POLICY

GFM values a diverse workforce. GFM’s vision for diversity and inclusion is to leverage the unique talents, strengths, and assets of our employees in order to provide the world’s best quick service restaurant experience. We continuously strive to maintain an environment in which every employee feels accepted, rewarded, and valued as an integral part of the team. GFM is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state and local fair employment practices laws. This policy ensures a practice of equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender or transsexual individual), pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, past, current or prospective service in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, Montana, or local law.

POLICY REGARDING DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS

GFM makes every effort to ensure that qualified individuals with a disability, including pregnancy, are not discriminated against with respect to the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. GFM complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended by the ADA Amendments Act, and all applicable state or local law. Under certain circumstances, these laws require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in various aspects of their employment.

Any employee or applicant who requires an accommodation to perform the essential functions of the job should contact the Store Manager, Area Supervisor, or Owner-Operator and request an accommodation.  Once GFM is aware of the request for an accommodation, GFM will engage in an interactive process to determine what limitation(s) may prevent the employee from performing the job, and identify possible accommodations that may resolve the limitation(s), thereby enabling the applicant or employee to perform the essential functions of the job.  If GFM and employee, through the interactive process, can identify accommodation(s) that are reasonable and do not impose undue hardship on GFM and do not present a possible direct threat to the health or safety of others in the workplace or to the individual, the accommodation will be granted.  The interactive process described in this policy is a collaborative process. An employee seeking an accommodation shall cooperate with GFM’s requests.

Consistent with these requirements GFM will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with a disability (including pregnancy) if such accommodation would allow the individual to perform the essential functions of the job, unless doing so would create an undue hardship.

NON-DISCRIMINATION & HARASSMENT POLICY

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY

GFM strictly prohibits and does not tolerate discrimination against employees, applicants, customers, suppliers, vendors, consultants, or any other persons because of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender or transsexual individual), pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, past, current or prospective service in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, Montana, or local law. All employees and representatives are prohibited from engaging in unlawful discrimination. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, training, promotion, discipline, compensation, benefits and termination of employment.

UNLAWFUL HARASSMENT

GFM strictly prohibits and does not tolerate unlawful harassment against employees, applicants, customers, suppliers, vendors, consultants, or any other persons because of any of the protected categories mentioned above, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local law. GFM’s anti-harassment policy applies to the workplace and to employer-sponsored events.

Prohibited conduct includes, but is not limited to:

Physical harassment (for example, assault or inappropriate physical contact).
Verbal harassment (for example, epithets, derogatory statements, slurs, sexually-related comments or jokes, unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors).
Non-verbal/visual harassment (for example, displaying sexually suggestive posters cartoons or drawings, sending inappropriate adult-themed gifts, leering or making sexual gestures).

All GFM employees, other workers and representatives, including vendors, customers, and other restaurant visitors are prohibited from harassing employees based on that individual's sex, or gender (including pregnancy and status as a transgender or transsexual individual) and regardless of the harasser's sex or gender.

Sexual harassment means any harassment based on someone's sex or gender. It includes harassment that is not sexual in nature (for example, offensive remarks about an individual's sex or gender), as well as any unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors or any other conduct of a sexual nature, when any of the following is true:

Submission to the advance, request or conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment
Submission to or rejection of the advance, request or conduct is used as a basis for employment decisions.
Such advances, requests or conduct have the purpose or effect of substantially or unreasonably interfering with an employee's work performance by creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.

COMPLAINT PROCEDURE

GFM is committed to enforcing these policies. However, the effectiveness of our efforts depends largely on individuals telling us about inappropriate workplace conduct. If you feel as though you have been subjected to any conduct that you believe violates these non-discrimination, harassment, or retaliation policies, you must promptly contact your restaurant’s General Manager, or if you feel uncomfortable doing so, your Area Supervisor, or our Owner-Operator as soon as possible after the offending conduct. If you have not received a satisfactory response after reporting any incident of what you perceive to be discriminatory conduct, please immediately contact Jeff at 406-490-8319 or Melissa 406-490-8318. These individuals will ensure that a prompt and thorough investigation is conducted. In addition, these individuals will promptly and thoroughly investigate any complaint by an applicant, customer, vendor or any other person.

Your complaint should be as detailed as possible, including the names of all individuals involved and any witnesses. GFM will investigate the facts and circumstances of all claims of perceived discrimination, harassment or retaliation and will take prompt corrective action, if appropriate.

NO RETALIATION

GFM strictly prohibits and does not tolerate unlawful retaliation against any employee by any employee. All forms of unlawful retaliation are prohibited, including any form of discipline, reprisal, intimidation or other form of retaliation for participating in any activity protected by law. Examples of protected activities include:

Lodging a good faith internal complaint (written or oral) with human resources or management specifically opposing unlawful discrimination or harassment, or complaining about violations of wage and hour law (for example, if an employee believes he has been sexually harassed or not paid overtime he is owed).
Filing a good faith complaint of unlawful discrimination or harassment with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or any similar state or local agency, or in court.
Participating in GFM’s internal investigation into allegations of discrimination or harassment.
Supporting another employee's internal or administrative complaint of unlawful discrimination or harassment (by, for example, testifying or providing an affidavit in support of a co-worker who has filed a discrimination complaint with the EEOC).
Requesting an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act or state anti-discrimination statutes.
Requesting or taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act or filing workers compensation claims.

The examples above are illustrative only, and not exhaustive. No form of retaliation for any protected activity will be tolerated.

ZERO TOLERANCE

Any employee, regardless of position or title, whom GFM determines has engaged in discriminatory, harassing, or retaliatory conduct in violation of this policy, will be subject to discipline, up to and including termination of employment.

ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY OF GFM REGARDING EMPLOYEE TREATMENT OF CUSTOMERS, SUPPLIERS AND VENDORS

The employees of GFM are prohibited from discriminating against or harassing customers, suppliers and vendors, based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or any other unlawful reason, both during work-related activities and at company-sponsored training or functions. Management employees who witness or receive reports of discriminatory or harassing behavior are required to take appropriate action, including immediately reporting such behavior to his or her Area Supervisor, or directly to the Owner/Operator. Any employee who receives a complaint of discrimination from a customer, supplier or vendor must bring the complaint to the attention of his/her manager immediately. These individuals will ensure that a prompt and thorough investigation is conducted.

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE POLICY

GFM prohibits and will not tolerate any form of workplace violence or abusive conduct by an employee, supervisor, or third party, including vendors or customers both at the workplace and at employer-sponsored events.

As a Company, we are firmly committed to providing a workplace that is free from acts of violence or threats of violence. Although some kinds of violence result from societal problems that are beyond our control, we believe that measures can be adopted to increase protection for employees and to provide a secure workplace. In keeping with this commitment, we have established a strict policy that prohibits any employee from threatening or committing any act of violence in the workplace.

Additionally, employees are strictly prohibited from bringing any weapons or firearms into GFM restaurant and/or workplace areas.

Employees are required to report any incident involving a threat or act of violence or abusive conduct immediately to their General Manager, the Office, Director of Operations, or the Owner. The matter will be immediately investigated and appropriate corrective action will be taken. This may include the imposition of disciplinary action upon any employee violates this policy, up to and possibly including immediate termination.

VIDEO SURVEILLANCE

In order to address safety and security concerns, GFM has installed video-only surveillance cameras. If there is any reported incident of theft, trespass, workplace violence, employee misconduct, workplace injury, or any type of safety violation (hereafter collectively referred to as “security incidents”), GFM will utilize its surveillance equipment as an investigatory tool. GFM will also make use of its surveillance equipment to deter any future security incidents.

GFM reserves the right to actively monitor, through its surveillance cameras, any areas for safety reasons (to protect against failure, breakage, or accident) or confidentiality reasons (to protect documents or other proprietary information). Although the video surveillance policy is intended to monitor for security incidents and other safety reasons at GFM, it is possible that such surveillance may monitor activities not related to GFM’s business.

While employees have no expectation of privacy in any of the areas under video surveillance, GFM respects the privacy of its employees. Accordingly, there will be no video cameras installed in GFM’s restrooms.

The video surveillance cameras and any images obtained from the surveillance are to be used solely for the purposes of this video surveillance policy. Any unauthorized use of these video cameras and/or images is strictly forbidden and may result in discipline, up to and including termination of employment.

EMPLOYEE RIGHTS UNDER THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT

Nothing in this Handbook is intended to restrict or otherwise prevent employees from engaging in the rights afforded to them under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, including the discussion of wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.

CONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT OF EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK

I have received my copy of GFM’s Employee Handbook, which includes important information about GFM, LLC & Crawshaw Enterprises LLC d/b/a McDonald’s. I understand and agree that it is my responsibility to read and familiarize myself with the policies and procedures contained in the handbook and to follow those policies and procedures at all times, and any subsequent revisions made to it. I understand that I should consult with my Supervisor or the Owner-Operator regarding any questions not answered in the handbook. Since the information, policies, and benefits described here are necessarily subject to change, I acknowledge that revisions to the handbook may occur.

I understand and agree that nothing in the employee handbook creates a promise or representation of continued employment. I understand that any and all policies can be changed at any time by GFM. GFM reserves the right to change my hours, wages, and working conditions at any time. I understand and agree that only the Owner-Operator has the authority to adopt any revisions to the policies in this handbook.

(A copy of the Confirmation of Receipt of Handbook will be retained in the employee's personnel file).