Shut franchises, UK McDonald's told amid sexual assault, racism claims

McDonald's should terminate franchise deals if UK branches are "not following labour law", chair of the Business and Trade Committee said after claims of sexual assault, harassment, racism and bullying by current and recent staff from the fast food chain, BBC reported. Workers are being groped and harassed almost routinely, the report claimed.

McDonald's “deeply apologised” admitting that it had “fallen short” insisting that it had a "strong track record in this area". More than 100 allegations from McDonald's workers relating to sexual assault, harassment, racism and homophobia over the past five months have been made.

Read more: Russian troops not obeying orders? Vladimir Putin faces major challenge again

“Our franchise agreement contains termination provisions should they not comply with these standards. Within our standards we specifically include People Brand Standards to ensure restaurants are operated in accordance with UK law in a manner that creates a safe, respectful, inclusive workplace and includes regular training and monitoring on prevention of harassment, discrimination and workplace violence,” the spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said the allegations are "deeply concerning".

Darren Jones, a Labour MP, said, “I am sure they go in and check the quality of their burgers and whether their marketing standards have been put up properly and whether customers are happy with the quality of their milkshakes. But are they going in and talking to the staff and making sure that they are being treated fairly and in line with the law? It sounds like they are not.”

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.