South Carolina mom of 3 was left to run entire Burger King by herself for 12+ hours

Low wages, long hours, and understaffed shifts are a few of the reasons.

In Hamilton’s case, she says she’s had to stay late or pull long shifts solo, forcing her to choose between showing up for her job and showing up for her kids.

The original TikTok sparked a wave of sympathy and concern, with many pointing out that understaffed fast-food chains are becoming all too common: "Someone like this at the McDonald’s by Rushes and the Starbucks by Blossom Buffet. Girl was in there ALLL by herself at 11 at night. Scary as hell," commented TikTok user Michaila Busbee.

While major chains like Burger King and McDonald’s have made public commitments to improve worker retention and compensation, stories like Hamilton’s suggest those promises may not always reach the frontline. Burger King's employee retention score on business rating and comparison site Comparably sits in the bottom 10% of similarly sized companies.

"One of my employees just quit on me, and they didn’t have anyone else to come in, so I had to work by myself, and close by myself,” Hamilton said.

In response to the situation, Burger King released a statement to WACH FOX:

"At Burger King, it is our policy that all company and franchise owned restaurants require more than one Team Member to be working per shift. We are working with the Franchisee of this location to understand what happened and take any necessary action."

She is being abused by the franchise owner and it's really not cool. People are so fucking greedy.

It's sad to see this happening in America.

Maybe she should aspire to work somewhere other than Burger King then!

At first I thought this story was about a kid left to run the store alone. If it’s an adult, what’s the big deal? I ran a 7/11 by myself. Thank you, come again.

Too many fast food joints anyway. Close them up. Tear them down. Staff the remaining ones appropriately. And no one should be eating Burger King anyway. Gross.

R5 You dumbfuck. She has to make the food, clean, run the drive thru, and the front counter.

I doubt you could run a lemonade stand by yourself much less a 7/11.

[quote] Too many fast food joints anyway. Close them up. Tear them down. Staff the remaining ones appropriately. And no one should be eating Burger King anyway. Gross.

And put her out of work.

What a selfish asshole you are.

Sometimes the only jobs in town are at the fast food joints.

"In response to the situation, Burger King released a statement to WACH FOX:

"At Burger King, it is our policy that all company and franchise owned restaurants require more than one Team Member to be working per shift. We are working with the Franchisee of this location to understand what happened and take any necessary action."

What a crock of bullshit. The franchise model is set up exactly for one purpose: to deflect blame for anything and everything, and pass the buck down to the next unsuspecting sap.

If she's taking the orders and making the food, just don't ring the order into the system and pocket the cash. If someone pays with a card, ring in that order. But cash? Nope.

[quote] If she's taking the orders and making the food, just don't ring the order into the system and pocket the cash. If someone pays with a card, ring in that order. But cash? Nope.

She'd get busted so fast.

The inventory wouldn't match up with the credit card register totals.

And the owners would definitely find it suspicious that the receipts show no one pays in cash during her shifts.

Totally not worth going to jail for that.

Besides, she sounds like an honest person. It's commendable that she chooses to work. A lot of people in her situation would just stay home with their kids and collect welfare.

The sheer will it takes to do that is amazing. She should be showered in job offers

This is how the ruling class wants us to live and too few people are rising to resist.

R13 Fuck yes. She should at least get a huge raise and promotion. She’s a hard worker.

She could use a go fund me but I'm against them in the meta sense. They hold out hope that the kindness of strangers is the solution for corporate greed and slave labour politics

Abortion was her legal option…

In 1990 or so I had a brief stint as a Burger King Assistant Manager. I had to work an 8 hour shift with just the district Manager because it was the last day of the month and the store labor was too high. His plan was to have just us work so no one was on the clock and therefore skew the numbers. The other 2 managers didn't have to work b/c they blamed the high labor on me, the new guy (cunts).

[quote] The ‘Burger King Mom’ who went viral for working shift by herself says she lost her job

Nykia Hamilton went viral in July after a customer recorded her working a shift entirely alone at a Burger King in Columbia, South Carolina.

Despite her viral display of a tireless work ethic while running every station at a Burger King in South Carolina by herself, Nykia Hamilton, better known online as the “Burger King Mom,” is now out of a job.

In a recent emotional TikTok video, Hamilton tearfully updated followers about her situation, Complex reported.

“[Burger King] fired me because I’ve been late because of my kids,” she explained through tears. “My kids come first. Y’all don’t pay for no babysitter, or nothing.”

Hamilton, a 25-year-old single mother of three from Columbia, South Carolina, first captured national attention in July after a customer recorded her working an entire shift alone when a co-worker quit mid-shift. The footage showed her preparing food, running the drive-thru, cleaning, and working the front counter, all while managing the store’s pace on her own.

The clip quickly went viral, sparking widespread admiration and outrage at her circumstances. At the time, she described the toll of her work to local media.

“I be missing out on my kids’ lives when I work so much,” Hamilton told WACH News. “I have to provide for them, but I really don’t have time to spend with them—and it hurts me a lot.”

Shortly after the video spread, Hamilton launched a GoFundMe to support herself and her children. Initially set at $60,000, the fundraising goal was recently raised to $70,000 as contributions continued to pour in. She is now close to reaching that updated target, with hundreds of donors offering financial support to help ease the burden of her sudden job loss.

Alongside the generosity, Hamilton has also spoken candidly about the pitfalls of viral fame she never asked for. While the attention brought financial help and an outpouring of support, it has also left her vulnerable and exposed during an already difficult time.

“I’m already aggravated, I’m already depressed, all of this mental shit, and motherf— f— with me, so leave me alone,” she said during her emotional update. “I ain’t want no fame, no money, none of this s—.”

On her GoFundMe page, Hamilton wrote, “I wasn’t expecting my life to change how it did. I really do everything for my kids.”

While she shouldn’t have been put in the position to be working like that, ultimately the answer is:

Stop Having Kids!

BKs are franchised, aren't they? She was probably the most senior person there with the highest hourly wage. Now, after all the controversy, the owner hired a bunch of replacement workers at minimum wage and she became as dispensible as she was once indispensible. Regardless, this doesn't bode well for the longevity of the location. It was mismanaged then and that has not changed unless there's been a change of ownership.

I love what you posted, R13.

Thank you.

[quote] It was mismanaged then and that has not changed unless there's been a change of ownership.

She shamed the owner, who was probably aware the restaurant was understaffed and didn't care. She probably was instructed to close the restaurant if she was the only worker but she kept it open and worked because she needed the money. So owner had a lawful reason to terminate her for violating company policy. This is Amerikkka.

The owner didn't give a shit that she was working on her own. He didn't want to interrupt his golf game to arrange for additional coverage and was saving money on salaries. If she's dumb enough to try it, I'm dumb enough to let her.

The regional office of Burger King knew about this mismanagement at a franchise, but didn't do a damn thing about it because all they care about is the franchisee paying his monthly franchise fee.

The national office of Burger King issued a standard bullshit PR hack response, but did nothing because it's a franchisee problem, not a corporate problem. This is why these joints are franchised operations: because they can avoid responsibility for anything and everything and kick the can down the line until it becomes the primary responsibility of the lowest paid employee of the franchise, like this woman.

This is why nobody wants to work at these dumps and shitholes for shit wages, constant bullshit to deal with from ownership and management and no benefits.

Another problem is that she's got a record and few people other than this BK were willing to hire her. In fact, she said the manager took a chance on her.

[QUOTE]If she's dumb enough to try it, I'm dumb enough to let her.

I'm not sure what this means.

When they are short on staff, why doesn’t the franchise owner come in to help?

Like most franchise owners, he only comes in to collect receipts and cash. The rest of the time he's out on the links or polishing his Benzo or banging his girlfriend, or avoiding his coke dealer.

She needs to be paid the hourly rate for every single position she was covering simultaneously.

She’s got an incredible work ethic but with the $7.25/ hour minimum wage she’s likely getting, she still has to depend on government welfare to get by.

This is the problem so many poor people face. You can work all day, every day, and still be poor

R8 She can do better, doll.

I would have locked the doors and turned out the lights so fast it would have made there heads spin.

Where are the heads?

resourceful, hard working and efficient, mom deserves a business of her own. her talents are wasted here.

Reminds me of the time I had to wait 2 hours for my Burger King breakfast because there was only one employee.

Of course they make you pay first r35.

You should have left after 1/2 hour. My friend did and later complained to corporate and was given a bunch of freebies. But who'd want to go back?

This same thing once happened to Mary Jo Shively when she worked at Burger Guy. Fortunately, her friends Julia, Anthony and Bernice showed up and helped with her shift.

Having worked retail I believe her.

She shouldn't have ever been in that position to work like that. Shame she doesn't have a partner/family to help her w/money let alone with the kids. With 3 kids, she should get child support at least. But that's not the issue here.

BK and places like it have a lot to answer for by her being left alone like that ---plenty of dangerous and crazy cunts out there. Doesn't a franchise owner have the responsibility to see to their employees' basic safety/well being? And her wages are ridiculous. I wonder if BK and places like that even pay OT---or did they wiggle out of that too?

Also, legally she was/is entitled to gettng breaks ---when was the last one she got? I hope she uses some of the GFM money to hire a good lawyer and that this story picks up more traction.

People work hard enough in these fast food places, getting shit on a good part of the day by random customers.

[quote] So owner had a lawful reason to terminate her for violating company policy

In most states including the one where this is taking place you don't need a reason to fire someone. It's an At Will State. All they have to do is say you are fired or your job has been eliminated. No reason at all. It's easier for the business to avoid lawsuits that way since you cant argue the reason for being fired.

R5- running a whole Burger King operation is much harder than standing behind a counter at 7-11. She is prepping the food, making the food, doing the dishes, taking orders upfront but also at the drive thru and keeping the place clean as well. In other words, an impossible job. She is a hero.

R12- she also already has a criminal record, as she says in the interview, which has made it hard for her to get a job in the first place.

R17- and when does she say she doesn’t want kids or wish she didn’t have them? She’s doing this for them!

Isn't Burger King the same company that gave an employee a goodie bag including a movie ticket, a Starbucks cup, some candy, and a backpack after having worked 27 years without missing a day? His GoFundMe reached 450K. Maybe there is some hope for this Mom.

I feel for her. I worked fast food jobs in my teens because that's ALL that would hire me. I developed and honed my loathing of the human race during that time in my life. If you want to know how base people can be, serve them in ANY capacity.

As a result, I'm ridiculously nice to anyone who serves me--even if they don't deserve it. Like that C*** at Tom Thumb yesterday.

Stupid bitch. Put your damn kids to work!

R36 I was too hungry to leave.

[quote] The owner didn't give a shit that she was working on her own.

Owner didn't give a shit but their lawyer almost fainted. If she'd been attacked or injured the lawsuit would have bankrupted them.

[quote] When they are short on staff, why doesn’t the franchise owner come in to help?

ROTFLMAO!!!! Millicent, is that you, darling?!!! How good of you. You always make me laugh, dear.