Fast-food giant McDonald’s could be in trouble with race watchdogs for asking its staff to speak English.
An outlet in Manchester put up a sign ordering employees to use English at all times in the store – including in the staffroom. But experts now believe the burger giant could have infringed workers’ human rights and European employment law.
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) confirmed it was examining the case.
Some of the staff complained to Qassim Afzal, a former Manchester city councillor and member of the Liberal Democrat Party, who speaks on equality issues.
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He told the This is London website: “They [the staff] feel they were being deprived of a natural way of expressing themselves. They are British people. I think it is discriminatory.
Afzal said, as a multi-national company, McDonald’s should be more sensitive to the use of other languages.
