One might think there’s a line everyone crosses, whether it be a large corporation like say, McDonald’s, or an individual person, where you just know you’re doing it wrong. But Mickey D’s still doesn’t seem to get it, as it’s reportedly issued a helpful guide for the holidays on how its employees — many of which barely subsist on minimum wage — should be tipping their own employees, like the pool cleaner and the au pair.

We’re sure McDonald’s is simply trying to be helpful with its suggestions (which have now been removed from its Employee Resource site after a CNBC report on it) like how much you should be giving your au pair: “A gift from your family (or one week’s pay), plus a small gift from your child” or a nice chunk of “one day’s pay” for a housekeeper and “cost of one cleaning” for a pool cleaner.

Don’t forget your dog walkers, massage therapists and personal trainers. That would simply be rude.

The company does add that maybe not everyone has the bucks to tip a pool cleaner (if they can afford one in the first place, right?): “What you give, if anything at all, should be dictated by your relationship with the serviceperson, how often you utilize the services, and most importantly, your budget.”

A McDonald’s spokeswoman responded to CNBC’s report with an emailed statement, saying it’s just etiquette:

“This is content provided by a third-party partner and quotes from one of the best-known etiquette gurus, Emily Post. We continue to review the resource and will ask the vendor to make changes as needed.”

This, after McDonald’s advised workers to sell their Christmas gifts and break up their food in smaller pieces to save money.

Meanwhile, McDonald’s workers were among the many fast food workers walking off the job yesterday in an effort to push corporate overlords to pay their employees $15 as minimum wage.

McDonald’s gives workers advice on tipping au pairs, trainers, dog-walkers [NBC News]

It’s time for a music lesson, McDonald’s, or you’re just going to keep coming across as totally tone deaf.

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