An MP has accused McDonald’s of running a ‘predator’s paradise’ and a ‘hotbed of harassment’ as its CEO was grilled in a parliamentary select committee.
The Business and Trade Committee held its second evidence session yesterday (7 January) in its Making Work Pay inquiry into the forthcoming Employment Rights Bill.
The committee questioned executives from companies including McDonald’s, Tesco, Shein and the British Retail Consortium on how they are preventing labour abuses such as modern slavery and harassment in their national and international supply chains.
Chairing the committee, Labour MP Liam Byrne asked McDonald’s UK chief executive Alistair Macrow whether allegations uncovered by a BBC investigation suggested the restaurants were a “predator’s paradise” or a “hotbed of harassment”.
The allegations include a 17-year-old employee claiming a manager had offered to increase her shifts in return for sex, and another who was sent topless pictures.
Workers’ rights
Retailers accused of hiring ‘gig’ workers with no rights
Zero-hours reforms should exclude agency workers, says APSCo
Macrow told the committee that the allegations were “abhorrent”, adding that the company had introduced a “wide-ranging cultural action plan that guarantees our ability to detect, deter and deal with any forms of harassment in our business”.
Forty-seven allegations of sexual harassment have been upheld, he said, and 29 people have been dismissed. When asked repeatedly whether franchises had been closed after allegations of harassment, Macrow said six had been shut for “not meeting requirements for our people practices”, but would not be specific.
Macrow denied that there was a pattern of poor behaviour driven by managers – many of whom have been the subject of allegations. “Fair contracts do not create systemic behaviour or an issue with an imbalance of power,” he added. Zero-hours contracts meant employees could enjoy more flexibility, rather than leading to “vulnerability”, he claimed.
Law firm Leigh Day has been approached by more than 700 McDonald’s employees across the country to take legal action against the company. Around 450 of its branches are implicated in harassment claims.
Calls for stricter supply chain rules
In the same committee meeting, Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said the government needed to do more to protect vulnerable workers, particularly those from overseas.
He said he wanted more details on how the new Fair Work Agency would crack down on human rights transgressions such as modern slavery, and how it would do more to compel businesses to publish modern slavery statements.
Claire Lorains, group quality, technical and sustainability director at Tesco, echoed his comments, saying the UK could stay competitive by aligning with “more progressive steps” taken by EU companies on the issue.
Opie added that the government could be stricter on goods entering the UK if there are suspicions that supply chain quality standards have not been met. “There are definitely more things the government could do to intervene,” he said.
When quizzed on its own supply chain, a representative from Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein remained tight-lipped.
Shein’s general counsel for EMEA, Yinan Zhu, refused to answer questions on issues such as where the company sources its cotton or whether it uses forced labour in factories in Xinjiang.
She repeatedly told the committee she could “only answer questions that are relating to our business” and that she would write to the committee afterwards.
Byrne said he was horrified by the lack of response: “The reluctance to answer basic questions has frankly bordered on contempt,” he said.
‘Harassment is unacceptable’
Responding to the allegations of systemic harassment at McDonald’s, Claire Reindorp, chief executive of the Young Women’s Trust, told Personnel Today: “For many young women, a large hospitality chain like McDonald’s will be an obvious place to take their first steps into the world of work.
“For them to be hit with harassment and bullying, in an environment where they have little power to speak up, is unacceptable and will impact them long into their futures.”
“Everyone should have the opportunity to thrive at work, not have to turn up full of fear and uncertainty about when their next shift will come, or what they may have to do to get those vital hours.
“More action needs to be taken to protect young women and ensure they have – at the very least – safety, dignity and equal opportunities in any sector they choose to enter.
“If we don’t, we’re perpetuating these disgraceful practices that strip away young women’s confidence leaving them feeling devalued and stuck in an unsafe and unfair environment.”
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Employee relations opportunities on Personnel Today
Browse more Employee Relations jobs
