Every McDonaldâs warned over staff sexual abuse

Every McDonaldâs in Britain has been warned its owners could face legal action if they fail to take steps to protect staff from sexual abuse.
The equality watchdog has written to all 1,400 branches telling them they must comply with their legal duties, or risk enforcement action, after a BBC investigation uncovered claims of a toxic culture of sexual assault and harassment.
In January, McDonaldâs workers told us they still faced sexual harassment more than a year after its chief executive promised to clean up behaviour at the fast-food chain.
McDonaldâs said it is âcommittedâ to doing everything it can to ensure a safe working environment for all employees.
It added: âWe are confident that the plan we have in place is working.â
The BBC has asked one current McDonaldâs employee, who works for a franchise restaurant in southwest Scotland, for his reaction to the letter. He told us he hoped the intervention would lead to âconcrete changeâ for people like him.
The 19-year-old worker, who weâre calling Alan, told us in January he had been repeatedly subjected to âdegrading and humiliatingâ verbal abuse by his colleagues, and faced âhomophobic slursâ.
Alan still works there. He says things are not much different and he wants to âget awayâ from it.
The letter from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which the BBC has seen, called the allegations in our investigation âtroublingâ and noted there have been ârepeated incidentsâ.
The vast majority of McDonaldâs restaurants are run by franchises, which means individual operators are licensed to run the outlets and employ the staff.
The EHRC said franchises were not covered by the legally binding agreement it entered into with McDonaldâs in February 2023 to prevent sexual harassment in its restaurants.
But it said all businesses in Britain, small or large, must comply with the Equality Act.
âIt is your duty to ensure that any anti-discrimination and harassment measures you currently have in place are effective, and to take any necessary steps to protect your workers,â the chief executive of the EHRC, John Kirkpatrick, told the restaurants.
Unlimited fines
The letter sets out the âreasonable stepsâ that restaurants could take to prevent sexual harassment.
These include regular risk assessments, ensuring younger and more vulnerable workers are properly safeguarded and ensuring complaints are dealt with sensitively and effectively through an established procedure.
It added that any franchise restaurant that does not comply with its legal duties âmay be at risk of enforcement actionâ.
The EHRC has a range of statutory enforcement powers open to it, including the ability to launch formal investigations.
If an organisation repeatedly refuses to comply, then the watchdog can take it through the courts, where an unlimited fine could be issued.
âTotally and utterly unacceptableâ
Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee, said the BBCâs investigation of abuse at McDonaldâs had âexposed malpractice which was totally and utterly unacceptableâ.
He called for the EHRC to explain âwhy it is only now writing to McDonaldâs restaurants about their new duty under the law, to prevent sexual harassment from taking place, when it came into effect nearly six months agoâ.
He said it was âespecially concerning because the regulator has known about hundreds of allegations of harassment for several yearsâ.
He added: âParliamentary committees have now twice found the vigour of their enforcement to be disappointing. Itâs now vital the public are reassured theyâre on top of the problem â and not behind the curve.â
In response, Mr Kirkpatrick said: âWe think that generally the best way to get improvement is to work with willing management teams to effect real change.â
He added: âWe can impose actions on businesses. If we need to do that, then that is what we will do.â
The BBC first began investigating working conditions at McDonaldâs more than two years ago, after the fast-food chain signed its agreement with the EHRC.
In July 2023, we published our initial investigation, which reported claims by workers, some as young as 17, of being groped and harassed almost routinely.
At the time, McDonaldâs apologised and set up a new unit to deal with complaints.
Since then, more than 160 people have approached the BBC with allegations while the EHRC has heard 300 reported incidents of harassment.
Other claims the BBC heard include:
- A 19-year-old worker said managers would âtouch upâ other members of staff and some colleagues were scared of going into work. He quit the branch in the Midlands last year.
- A worker said managers inappropriately touched her and customers sexually harassed her. When she raised it, she said she was told to âsuck it upâ. She quit her job in the West Midlands at the end of 2023.
- A 16-year-old employee based in the West Midlands, who said he was bullied, shouted at and sworn at by managers.
- A 20-year-old who said a male manager sent her topless pictures. She left her McDonaldâs branch in the East of England in August.
Earlier this year, we reported that the watchdog plans to intervene again, âin light of serious allegations raised by our work with the company, and the BBC investigationâ.
The BBC understands the action plan will involve strengthening the existing measures â which included providing more training and conducting a survey of workers â as well as announcing new steps.
Alistair Macrow, the boss of McDonaldâs in the UK, has been summoned twice to Parliament to answer questions in front of MPs since our initial investigation.
In January, he said 29 people had been dismissed over sexual harassment allegations over the past 12 months.
In a statement, a McDonaldâs spokesperson said the agreement with the EHRC was signed âwith the intention that it continues to evolve to ensure the robust measures we have in place are aligned with any updated guidanceâ.
It said the letter was sent âto remind our franchisees of their legal obligations to provide a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace for their employees â which is the same legal requirement of all employers,â adding that it âwelcomesâ any steps that mean it is continuing to make progress in this area.
It said that together with its franchisees, it is committed to doing everything it can to ensure a safe working environment for all employees, with initiatives and measures as part of a cultural action plan.
âThese actions include everything from enhanced training programmes and onboarding practices, through to the launch of a new digital speak up channel designed with our and our franchiseesâ restaurant crew in mind,â the spokesperson said.
âWe are confident that the plan we have in place is working and making a difference to the near 170,000 people currently employed by McDonaldâs and our franchisees across McDonaldâs in the UK & Ireland today.â
They added that its latest anonymous employee survey showed that 94% of people are aware of ways in which they can speak up.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, information and support is available via the BBC Action Line.
Some of the names in this story have been changed to protect identities.