McDonald’s faces one or two sexual harassment claims every week

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A McDonald’s boss has admitted that the fast-food giant receives ‘between one and two’ sexual harassment claims a week following, a BBC investigation.

McDonald’s UK chief executive, Alistair Macrow told MPs the restaurant chain had sacked 18 people since July, after receiving more than 400 complaints from staff.

A BBC investigation discovered that workers from the age of 17 were being groped and harassed at work. Meanwhile some McDonald’s UK employees told the BBC that the workplace culture was ‘toxic’ and claims of sexual assault, racism and bullying were ‘not taken seriously’.

Harassment claims every week

At a Business and Trade Select Committee this week, Mr. Macrow said McDonald’s UK had received 407 employee complaints since July. But since the BBC report which uncovered the claims in the summer, Mr. Macrow has launched an investigation handling unit to deal with the complaints.

Mr. Macrow said of the 157 complaints investigated, 17 were in relation to sexual harassment and led to disciplinary action, nine complaints related to bullying, and another was about racial harassment.

In the meeting on Tuesday, (November 15) Mr. Macrow said that some of the complaints are yet to be investigated, but he knows that 27 are in relation to sexual harassment.

Mr. Macrow said: “To give you a picture of what we see on an ongoing basis, we typically would see between 20 to 25 contacts per week, of which one or two would be sexual harassment.”

Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Committee, asked the McDonald’s boss if “profit was more important than protecting workers”.

But Mr. Macrow said it was “absolutely not the case”.

“The most important thing in our business is our people. We do everything we can to look after our people,” he added.

Ian Hodson, national president at the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, also appeared before MPs and said some stories that it had been told by McDonald’s employees were “absolutely horrific” and it “shouldn’t happen in the 21st century, in the UK”.

Mr. Hodson added: “When a global corporation, [one of the] biggest employers in the world that makes billions and billions of pounds, can’t protect its workforce it’s awful. It should be leading and be an example for others – but they’re not.”

McDonald’s employs more than 170,000 people in the UK, making it one of the largest private-sector employers. It also has one of the UK’s youngest workforces, with three-quarters of staff aged 16 to 25 and, for many, it is their first job.

The McDonald’s UK website states that they “put customers and people first.”

A section on the McDonald’s UK recruitment website states: “Serving more than 3.8 million customers daily in the UK and Ireland, our customers love McDonald’s for the food as well as our fast and friendly service.

“So it’s important to make every interaction at McDonald’s special – whether you’re a customer or part of the McFamily. Your safety and wellbeing is our top priority. That’s why we take the time to serve you and our customers in the safest way possible.”

According to Mr. Macrow, 89% of its branches in the UK are operated by franchisees. But he admitted that no franchisees had yet lost their contracts due to claims of harassment and abuse.

McDonald’s faces one or two sexual harassment claims every week, admits boss

A McDonald’s boss has admitted that the fast-food giant receives ‘between one and two’ sexual harassment claims a week following, a BBC investigation.

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