McDonald's workers make fresh harassment claims

McDonald's employees say they are still facing sexual abuse and harassment a year after the company's bosses pledged to clean up the fast-food chain's misconduct. Matt, a 19-year-old employee, told the BBC that some of his colleagues were afraid to go to work, and that managers would "touch" other staff members. Since the BBC's initial investigation into the company, the UK's equality watchdog has received 300 reports of harassment and plans to intervene again.

A McDonald's spokesperson said that the company has undertaken "extensive work" over the past year to ensure it has industry-leading practices in place to keep staff safe. The head of McDonald's UK has been summoned for a second time to answer questions from MPs on Tuesday, including about allegations of sexual abuse. These allegations include: a staff member quitting her job in the West Midlands at the end of 2023 due to inappropriate touching by a manager and sexual harassment from customers, being told to "put up with it" when she raised the matter; a current 16-year-old employee working in the West Midlands stating he had been bullied, insulted, and verbally abused by a manager; and a 20-year-old female employee saying a male manager sent her nude pictures, leading her to leave her McDonald's branch in eastern England in August.

These allegations all relate to incidents that occurred after November 2023, when Alistair Macrow, the head of McDonald's UK, first gave evidence in front of the parliamentary Business and Trade Committee. Mr. Macrow told MPs at the time that the company was taking action to improve working conditions after the BBC uncovered widespread concerns about the treatment of staff. However, a current and two former employees from different parts of the country claim that promised restaurant audits were manipulated by branches.

Currently, more than 700 current and former junior employees are taking legal action against the company, accusing it of failing to protect them. Matt said he quit his job at a McDonald's branch in the Midlands last year because of what he called a "toxic" work environment. He said he was bullied because he had learning difficulties and an eye condition. "Then you notice things, managers and staff being racist to other staff. Managers trying to touch other staff," he said. He also stated that some staff were afraid to go to work for fear of something "awful" happening. Matt said that the work culture had not changed by the time he left in May.

An employee, who gave her name as Claire, worked at a branch in the Midlands until May 2023, said that a duty manager asked her for sex in exchange for extra shifts, which she refused. She was 17 at the time, while the manager was in his 30s. "You wouldn't think that would happen," she said. "It was completely inappropriate." Like most McDonald's employees, Claire was on a zero-hours contract. McDonald's outlets are run on a franchise basis, so local managers are responsible for hiring staff for their restaurants. In the UK, 89% of staff are on zero-hours contracts. McDonald's says staff have the option to move to a minimum guaranteed hours contract. But 50 employees we interviewed across the country said they had not been given this option.

Some employees told the BBC that insecure hours led to a power imbalance. However, others said zero-hours contracts worked well for them. Claire said she felt "reliant" on her manager for work. "I was always asking for more shifts because I needed more money," she said. A McDonald's spokesperson said that the company had offered all staff a choice of flexible or guaranteed hours contracts in 2018 and that information on how to apply should be posted in every staff room. "In addition, every new employee has a formal conversation with management after four weeks of employment where management confirms that the employee is aware of the option of a guaranteed hours contract," the company said.

The company said it did not recognize the incident of a manager asking for sex in exchange for shifts. "Where sufficient information is provided, we will ensure a full investigation is undertaken, and appropriate action taken where necessary," the company said. Most McDonald's staff are aged between 16 and 25. For many, it is their first job. Even senior managers tend to be young. An employee, who gave his name as Elliot, was in his early 20s when he was in charge of a store in the south of England. He left in February last year. "If I had a sister, or if I had a daughter, I wouldn't want them to work at McDonald's," he said.

When McDonald's bosses spoke to MPs in 2023, he said the company had stopped moving managers to avoid disciplinary action. But Elliot said that a few days after Mr. Macrow gave evidence, a manager was moved to his store to avoid disciplinary action after allegations that they had sent explicit sexual messages to female colleagues aged between 16 and 18. Following the BBC's investigation, McDonald's hired external consultants PwC to audit their restaurants and check on the wellbeing of staff. But Elliot said that the franchise he worked at had "manipulated" the checks in February. "They met with the best staff who were handpicked from different stores," he said. "People who could be coached to give the right answers."

According to Elliot, the audit gave the restaurant a 100% rating. However, he told us that two months before the audit, a manager working there was accused of giving a Nazi salute to a Jewish employee. He said PwC was not told about the allegation. "I think I'm a bit traumatized by it," he said. "And I think I'm going to have bad memories of my employment experience for the rest of my life." PwC said that while it does not comment on individual clients, its site visits are "subject to a rigorous process" and improvements are made where necessary. A McDonald's spokesperson said that PwC's independent site visits "play a vital role" in assessing each restaurant against specific criteria and ensuring standards are met.

"In the small number of cases where our expectations have not been met, we have acted quickly to put things right," the spokesperson said. "The assessment process is constantly reviewed by PwC and improvements were made early in the program to ensure employee interviews (which form part of the assessment) are randomly selected by independent assessors, further safeguarding the integrity of the process." The BBC first began investigating working conditions at McDonald's in February 2023 after the company signed a legally binding agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), pledging to protect its staff from sexual harassment. After our investigation was published in July 2023, McDonald's apologized and set up a new department to handle complaints.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission also set up a dedicated abuse complaints hotline. More than 160 people came forward to the BBC with allegations after our initial investigation, while the Equality and Human Rights Commission received 300 reports of incidents. Now, the watchdog says it is taking stronger action against the fast-food chain. In a new statement given exclusively to the BBC, the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: "Given the serious allegations raised through our work with the company and the BBC investigation, we are actively engaging with McDonald's to update our ongoing legal agreement." The action plan, the BBC understands, will include strengthening existing measures, including providing more training and carrying out staff surveys, as well as announcing new steps.

McDonald's said the agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission "is designed to evolve to ensure that the robust measures we have in place are aligned with any updated guidance". Meanwhile, law firm Leigh Day said it had been instructed by hundreds of employees and former employees to begin legal action against McDonald's, with more than 450 restaurants involved in the claims. A McDonald's spokesperson said: "Ensuring the 168,000 people working in McDonald's restaurants are safe is our and our franchisees' utmost responsibility, and we have undertaken extensive work over the past year to ensure we have industry-leading practices in place to support this priority."

"Any instances of misconduct and harassment are unacceptable and must be swiftly and thoroughly investigated and addressed," the company said. "Our unwavering commitment to eradicating all forms of harassment at McDonald's is led by a newly established team and underpinned by the experience and guidance of external experts." It said it had rolled out company-wide programs designed to improve safeguards, increase awareness and enhance training, and that it had introduced an additional way for employees to raise concerns confidentially at any time, in addition to the four existing channels, allowing staff to "raise issues digitally immediately," and that this was "specifically designed to ensure they feel empowered to speak up."

It also said that its new investigations department was "dedicated to rooting out any behaviour that falls short of its expectations for its people." "We believe we are taking significant and important steps to address unacceptable behaviour that every organisation faces," the spokesperson added. It said that its latest anonymous employee survey showed that 92% of franchisee employees now feel confident to speak up and 93% believe that management would take action. "However, we know we must remain ever-vigilant, and we will challenge and confront any behaviour that falls short of these standards," it said.

Here is some advice: * **Report**: Charity Victim Support advises telling your manager, HR representative, or union. * **Keep a record**: Include the date, time, and details of any incident. Keep any relevant emails. * **Seek help**: Victim Support operates a free and confidential 24/7 helpline and online chat service. Call 0808 16 89 111 or use the online chat: victimsupport.org.uk/live-chat. * **Call the police**: If sexual harassment escalates to violence, threats or sexual assault, call 101 to report it to the police. If you are in immediate danger, call 999.