McDonald’s staff to be protected from sexual abuse following complaints
McDonald’s has agreed to take further action with the UK’s equality watchdog EHRC to protect staff from sexual abuse, strengthening a legal agreement first signed in 2023 following concerns about the handling of complaints at its UK restaurants.
The initial agreement, which was planned to conclude in 2025, has now been extended by at least one year.
In March, the regulator warned McDonald’s UK franchisees of possible legal action for non-compliance.
The EHRC said on Friday that “stronger action” needed to be agreed with McDonald’s, but that it was satisfied with the steps the group had now taken.
It comes after more than 700 people aged 19 and under who worked at McDonald’s instructed law firm Leigh Day to take legal action earlier this year.
By February, more than 450 McDonald’s restaurants had been implicated in allegations describing discrimination, homophobia, racism, ableism and harassment.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chair of the EHRC, said: “We first signed a legal agreement with McDonald’s to prevent sexual harassment in 2023.
“Following the serious allegations raised, we decided that we needed to update the action plan with stronger actions that are more specific to the way McDonald’s operates.
“We are pleased with the significant steps McDonald’s has agreed to take to provide a safer working environment for its staff and appreciate the hard work they have done so far.
“Once completed, the actions constituting this legal agreement will ensure that there is zero tolerance for harassment at McDonald’s and that there are clear pathways for complaints to be reported and resolved should harassment occur.”
Strengthened steps McDonald’s must take under the new agreement include working with external experts on a new protection plan to protect vulnerable workers to be implemented in McDonald’s restaurants; ensuring that complaints against managers are investigated outside the restaurant; Hiring an external auditor to audit McDonald’s new complaints-handling unit and expanding training for managers and franchisees to cover social media and personal care.
McDonald’s is one of Britain’s largest employers, employing more than 170,000 people across 1,450 restaurants.
The fast food giant says the average age of its employees is 20.
The legal allegations follow a separate BBC report from 2023 in which workers talked about sexual assault, harassment, racism and bullying in the workplace.
This prompted McDonald’s to bring in consultants from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to audit its restaurants.
A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “Over the last three years, together with our franchisees, we have undertaken a number of comprehensive, robust and far-reaching initiatives as part of our steadfast commitment to providing a safe working environment in McDonald’s restaurants.
“We welcome the formalization of these measures under the latest EHRC agreement.
“This will build on the significant progress we have already made in this area.
“The agreement includes many of our existing measures, developed in consultation with leading experts.
“We are confident that the measures we have put in place are working and making a difference to the 148,000 people currently employed by McDonald’s and our franchisees across the UK.”
