'Sex for shifts' scandal at McDonald's as 700 staff and ex-workers take legal action
Fast food giant McDonald's has been rocked by fresh claims that young staff in the UK were subjected to sexual and other forms of harassment by restaurant managers
Fast food giant McDonald's has been rocked by a series of fresh allegations by young workers, including that a manager asked a 17-year for sex in exchange for extra shifts.
Employees - who say they were aged just 19 or younger when they worked for the burger chain - claim they were asked by their manager how many people they had slept with. Others include a manager who it is claimed would touch young staff inappropriately on their shift, another who "preyed on young female workers", or who made alleged racist comments.
They are among current and former McDonald's workers taking legal action against the fast food giant. Law firm Leigh Day says it has been instructed by more than 700 staff who were aged 19 or younger when they worked for the chain. More than 450 McDonald's restaurants across the UK have been implicated in the claims, it said, with clients allegedly experiencing discrimination, homophobia, racism, ableism, and harassment.
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It came as McDonald's employees alleged they were still facing sexual abuse and harassment, a year after its UK boss promised to clean up the firm's behaviour.
Alistair Macrow, appearing in front of the Commons' Business and Trade Committee in November 2023, insisted the company was taking action to improve working conditions. At the time he said the firm had received more than 400 complaints about treatment of staff since July that year, when a BBC investigation revealed a toxic culture of sexism, racism and harassment. He admitted the company was still receiving one or two sexual harassment complaints a week.
Mr Macrow was grilled again on the fresh claims when he gave evidence to the same committee later on Tuesday.
Liam Byrne, chair of the committee, put it to him: "Has McDonald's become a predators' paradise?" He went on: "This kind of abuse flourishes where there is an imbalance of power in the workplace."
Mr Macrow insisted that much had happened since he last appeared: "I have put in place a programme of significant change which has seen us strengthen our standards," adding "it is working". He called the allegations "abhorrent and unacceptable and there is no place for then in McDonald's. "The measures we have put in place mean that we have and are able to offer a safe workplace where people are respected and feel included. I hear that from our people - it is working." He told MPs that McDonald's had investigated 75 allegations, of which 47 had been upheld, and 29 people dismissed as a result.
Mr Macrow insisted the allegations were "not widespread, there are isolated". But Mr Byrne hit back, saying: "It doesn't sound like these are isolated incidents. It sounds like there is a pattern of abuse in what has become a hotbed for harassment".
Mr Byrne also blasted Mr Macrow when he claimed its managers were the "first line of defence against bad behaviour" - responding that "many of the allegations are about managers".
Most McDonald's restaurants are run by franchisees. Some 100,000 of its UK workers are under 20, including school-leavers and others taking their first job. Around 90 per cent of its workers are on zero-hours contracts which, the committee heard, put them in a vulnerable position.
Mr Macrow insisted most workers opted to be on what he called "flexible hours" contracts. However, MPs claims zero hours could lead to an "abuse of power", raising the shift that managers put unfair or inappropriate demands on workers in exchange for future shifts.
The hearing was also told that a McDonald's restaurant in Cambridgeshire used nine victims of modern slavery in allegations that came to light last year, with workers forced to put in up to 100 hours a week. Mr Macrow claimed the allegations related to an incident more than 10 years ago, adding: "Today it would be very unlikely not to be detected."
In a separate move, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has announced it is taking stronger action against McDonald's. The watchdog ramped up pressure after 300 incidents were reported to it. McDonald's has already signed a legally binding agreement EHRC, in which it pledged to protect its staff from sexual harassment.
One 19-year-old client of Leigh Day currently working at a branch of McDonald's said: "I've had to deal with homophobic comments from managers and crew members - I feel as though I can't speak to any managers about it. My manager said if I can't deal with it, I should just leave the job. Things said to me shouldn't be said to anyone, I've been called names like 'faggot'. These comments make me feel really uncomfortable - I hate working there."
The BBC quoted Claire, not her real name, who worked at a branch in the Midlands until May 2023, and who says a shift manager asked her for sex in return for extra shifts, which she refused. She was 17, he was in his 30s. "You don't expect that to happen," she said. "It was totally inappropriate."
Another worker says she quit her job in the West Midlands at the end of 2023 after she says managers inappropriately touched her and customers sexually harassed her. When she raised it, she says she was told to "suck it up", she told the BBC.
McDonald's said it did not recognise the incident where a manager asked for sex in return for shifts. "If provided with sufficient information we would ensure a full investigation is carried out, and appropriate action taken if necessary," the company said.
Leigh Day believes junior staff at McDonald's could be entitled to bring claims, regardless of whether they have directly experienced harassment, because they could have been exposed to unsafe work practices which may have enabled a culture of inappropriate and unlawful conduct towards McDonald's young and less experienced staff.
Paula Lee, a partner in the employment team at Leigh Day, said: "Since the original BBC investigation, more than 700 young McDonald's employees from across the country have contacted Leigh Day and joined the claim. These continue to grow as more crew members learn that they can also access justice."
Paul Nowak, general secretary at the Trades Union Congress, said Mr Macrow "has serious questions to answer". He added: "This investigation has exposed how sexual harassment and insecure work can go hand in hand."
A McDonald's spokesperson said: "Ensuring the 168,000 people that work in McDonald's restaurants are safe is the most important responsibility for both us and our franchisees, and we have undertaken extensive work over the last year to ensure we have industry leading practices in place to support this priority. Any incident of misconduct and harassment is unacceptable and subject to rapid and thorough investigation and action.
"Our relentless focus on eliminating all forms of harassment at McDonald's is led by a newly created team and informed by the experience and guidance of external experts. Working at speed, they have already rolled-out company-wide programmes to improve safeguarding, drive awareness and enhance training. "
They added: "We have repeatedly asked the BBC to provide details of the deeply troubling cases they have outlined, to allow us to carry out full investigations, which we have not received. We understand the majority of these cases took place more than 12 months ago."
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