One of the world’s largest food chain companies, McDonald’s has been rocked by a barrage of sexual assault claims at its outlets in the UK. A report by BBC has revealed that most of the McDonald’s staff, including those as young as 16, are harassed and groped almost daily by their senior managers.
In a response to the BBC report, McDonald’s regretted that it had “fallen short” and said it “deeply apologised”.
McDonald’s toxic work culture
McDonald’s signed a legally binding agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in February this year, vowing to protect its staff from sexual harassment of any kind at the workplace.
The agreement prompted an investigation by BBC into the company’s work culture, which astonishingly revealed the sorry state of affairs.
BBC reported at least 31 cases related to sexual assault, and 78 related to sexual harassment. The UK equality watchdog has taken cognisance of the matter and launched a new email hotline for the victims.
Managers responsible for enabling sexual harassment
Most victims were quoted by BBC as saying that the managers at their outlets would either indulge in sexual acts with their juniors or turn a blind eye in such cases. For instance, “A manager in Hampshire suggested a 16-year-old male worker perform sexual acts in exchange for vapes.”
Watch: McDonald’s temporarily shuts US offices, to announce layoffs
In another case, BBC quoted an Indian-origin worker as saying that her crew members would often talk in “gibberish” to imitate her. They would also refer to a Pakistani junior worker as a terrorist.
“There is a saying at McDonald’s, “tits on tills” – boys in the kitchen, girls on the counter. The idea is to put attractive people at the front,” said a 22-year-old worker Lucy.
“It’s the expectation that if you work at McDonald’s, you will be harassed,” said another worker.
UK’s youngest workforce in danger
McDonald’s is one of the UK’s largest private-sector employers, with more than 170,000 people working at its outlets across the country. It also employs the country’s youngest workforce, with most junior employees aged between 16 and 25.
For most of them, this happens to be their first job. It is important to note that McDonald’s doesn’t employ these people directly, but indirectly through the franchise system. It means that individual operators are licensed to operate under McDonald’s banner and are responsible for employing staff.
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