McDonald's employs over 170,000 people across 1,450 restaurants in the UK
More than a hundred current and ex-staff at the McDonald's have spoken about sexual assault, harassment, racism, and bullying that they faced at the company's UK outlets. Responding to the claims, the chair of the Business and Trade Committee said that McDonald's should terminate franchise deals if branches are "not following labour law", BBC reported.
MP Darren Jones said the claims were "some of the most appalling" he had seen.
A BBC investigation has found that some workers, as young as 17, claim they were groped and harassed, and others felt forced to quit.
In February this year, the UK broadcaster began an investigation into the working conditions at the chain's outlets. While McDonald's insisted it had a "strong track record in this area", the investigation led to more than 100 allegations from staff relating to sexual assault, harassment, racism, and homophobia over the past five months.
A teen, still working for the chain, said a colleague decades older than her called her a racial slur and asked to show her his private part, and said he wanted to make a “black and white” baby with her. Another 16-year-old male worker was asked to perform sexual acts in exchange for vapes.
"They'd grope stomach, waists, bums. Every shift I worked, there would be at least a comment being made, or I'd be brushed, a hand brushed across me, or it would be a more severe thing, like having my bum grabbed, hips grabbed,'' a former employee said.
A current worker, originally from India, said crew members spoke in "gibberish" to imitate her and called a Pakistani colleague a terrorist. There were complaints raised, but managers didn't act upon them, the investigation revealed.
Following the investigation, McDonald's “deeply apologised” and said it had “fallen short”. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the allegations are "deeply concerning".
Notably, McDonald's employs over 170,000 people across 1,450 restaurants in the UK and is one of the country's largest private sector employees.