McDonald’s facing new harassment claims as UK boss set to be questioned by MPs over labour rights

More than 700 current and former workers are bringing claims including discrimination, homophobia, racism and harassment.

McDonald’s is facing fresh claims of widespread harassment across its UK branches as hundreds of young current and former workers join a legal action against the company.

More than 700 people who were aged 19 or younger when working at McDonald’s have instructed law firm Leigh Day to take legal action on their behalf. The claims come as UK chief executive Alistair Macrow prepares to face questions from MPs later on Tuesday on employment rights.

Over 450 McDonald’s restaurants are implicated in the claims so far, which describe discrimination, homophobia, racism, ableism and harassment.

One 19-year-old employee called Matt told a BBC investigation that his colleagues were scared of going into work and that managers would “touch up” some staff.

Another former worker, who was identified as Claire, said a shift manager asked her for sex in exchange for extra shifts. She was 17 at the time and he was in his 30s, the former worker said.

Another man, 19, who is currently working at a branch of McDonald’s, said: “I’ve had to deal with homophobic comments from managers and crew members – I feel as though I can’t speak to any managers about it. My manager said if I can’t deal with it, I should just leave the job.

“Things said to me shouldn’t be said to anyone, I’ve been called names like ‘f****t’. These comments make me feel really uncomfortable – I hate working there.”

Another worker called Matt, who left his job at a McDonald’s branch in the Midlands last year, told the BBC he was bullied for having a learning disability and an eye condition. He said he noticed managers and staff being racist to other workers, and bosses trying to “touch other staff up”.

The questioning by MPs on Tuesday is over a separate matter regarding employee rights, with Mr. Macrow set to be grilled over “labour rights in their national operations and international supply chains”. Along with McDonald’s, Tesco is also represented for questioning at the Business and Trade Committee, while Chinese firms Temu and Shein are also to be probed.

During questioning, the BTC expects to hear answers over whether “these [zero hour] contracts exacerbate power imbalances in the workplace in a way that risks and perpetuates abuses?”

Leigh Day, the law firm, said it had received claims of a young worker who was repeatedly pestered for sex, and another who was asked by their manager how many people they had slept with.

One claim detailed a manager who would touch young staff inappropriately on their shifts, while another said a manager made racist comments about whether staff would steal from the company because of where they were from. A young worker also said they had heard their disability described as being ridiculous.

McDonald’s is one of Britain’s largest employers, with more than 170,000 people working in 1,450 restaurants. The fast food giant says the average age of its employees is 20.

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The claims come after a separate BBC report in 2023, in which workers spoke of sexual assault, harassment, racism and bullying in the workplace.

That prompted McDonald’s to bring in consultants from Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) to audit its restaurants.

Leigh Day lawyers believe junior crew members and staff at McDonald’s could be entitled to bring claims, regardless of whether they have directly experienced harassment. It said they could have been exposed to a culture of inappropriate conduct, and urged any current staff aged under 20 to join the legal action.

Paul Nowak, general secretary at the Trades Union Congress, said Mr Macrow “has serious questions to answer”.

“This investigation has exposed how sexual harassment and insecure work can go hand in hand.”

McDonald’s outlets work using a franchise model, meaning local managers are in charge of recruiting staff. About 89% of British workers at McDonald’s are on zero-hours contracts. Mr Nowak added that the contracts “create a huge imbalance of power in the workplace that leaves workers vulnerable to predatory bosses”.

Mr Macrow will appear in front of the Business Committee of MPs in a session on employment rights on Tuesday afternoon. A McDonald’s spokesperson said the chain had done “extensive work” to make its workplaces safer.

“Any incident of misconduct and harassment is unacceptable and subject to rapid and thorough investigation and action,” they said.

They added that the company had set up a dedicated team to tackle the problem, which has “already rolled out company-wide programmes to improve safeguarding, drive awareness and enhance training”.

“We are confident that we are taking significant and important steps to tackle the unacceptable behaviours facing every organisation.”

A recent anonymous employee survey showed that 92% of its workers are “now comfortable speaking up”, they said. The company said it offers its employees the choice of zero-hours or guaranteed hours contracts.