The UK boss of McDonald’s insisted measures to tackle harassment of staff were “working” despite new allegations coming to light surrounding managers’ treatment of teen workers
Fast food giant McDonald’s has been accused of being a “predators’ paradise” after new allegations about young workers being harassed by managers emerged.
Alistair Macrow was grilled by MPs on the Commons Business and Trade Committee as part of a wider investigation into worker rights. It came on the day fresh damning allegations came to light surrounding McDonald’s managers’ treatment of teenage workers in the UK, including claims of “sex for shifts”.
Liam Byrne, chair of the committee, put it to Mr Macrow: “Has McDonald’s become a predators’ paradise?” He went on: “This kind of abuse flourishes where there is an imbalance of power in the workplace.”
Mr Macrow insisted that much had happened since he last appeared before the committee in late 2023: “I have put in place a programme of significant change which has seen us strengthen our standards,” adding “it is working.” He called the allegations “abhorrent and unacceptable and there is no place for them in McDonald’s. The measures we have put in place mean that we have and are able to offer a safe workplace where people are respected and feel included. I hear that from our people – it is working.”
He told MPs that McDonald’s had investigated 75 allegations, of which 47 had been upheld, and 29 people being dismissed.
Mr Macrow insisted the allegations were “not widespread, there are isolated.” But Mr Byrne hit back, saying: “It doesn’t sound like these are isolated incidents. It sounds like there is a pattern of abuse in what has become a hotbed for harassment”.
Mr Bryne also blasted Mr Macrow when he claimed its managers were the “first line of defence against bad behaviour” – responding “many of the allegations are about managers.” Most McDonald’s restaurants are run by franchisees. Some 100,000 of its UK workers are under 20, including manage school-leavers and others taking their first job. Around 90% of its workers are on zero-hours contracts which, the committee heard, put them in a vulnerable position.
Labour MP Antonia Bance said zero hours contracts “open the door to favouritism, bullying and sexual harassment. We have heard about sex for shifts happening in one of your restaurants, and if it has happened once, it will have happened more than once. The continued use of zero hours contracts enables predatory managers and puts workers at greater risk of bullying and sexual harassment.” Mr Macrow insisted most workers opted to be what he called “flexible hours” contracts.
