A toxic culture of sexual assault, harassment, racism and bullying has been alleged by more than 100 current and recent UK staff at UK outlets of McDonald’s, the BBC reports.
The BBC was told that workers, some as young as 17, are being groped and harassed almost routinely.
The UK equality watchdog said it was “concerned” by the BBC’s findings and is launching a new email hotline.
McDonald’s said it had “fallen short” and it “deeply apologised”.
The BBC began investigating working conditions at McDonald’s in February, after the company signed a legally binding agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in which it pledged to protect its staff from sexual harassment.
At the time, McDonald’s insisted: “We already have a strong track record in this area.”
Over a five-month period, the BBC heard more than 100 allegations from employees, 31 relating to sexual assault, and 78 to sexual harassment.
The staff also made 18 allegations of racism, while six people made allegations of homophobia.
Multiple workers told the BBC McDonald’s managers at the outlets across the UK were responsible for the harassment and assaults, with senior managers often failing to act on complaints.
McDonald’s is one of the UK’s largest private sector employers. The fast food giant has more than 170,000 people working in 1,450 restaurants.
Its staff are also one of the country’s youngest workforces. Three quarters of its employees are aged between 16 and 25. For many, it is their first job.
Most workers are not directly employed by the company as McDonald’s uses a franchise system, which means individual operators are licensed to run the outlets and employ the staff.
Sarah Woolley, the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union general secretary, said the new allegations uncovered by the BBC were “shocking”.
Alistair Macrow, chief executive of McDonald’s UK & Ireland, said there was “simply no place for harassment, abuse, or discrimination” at the company.
“Every one of the 177,000 employees in McDonald’s UK deserves to work in a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace. There are clearly instances where we have fallen short and for that we deeply apologise,” he told the BBC.
“We will investigate all allegations brought to us, and all proven breaches of our code of conduct will be met with the most severe measures we can legally impose, up to and including dismissal.”
Macrow said that more than 2,000 managers had completed full awareness training and that most restaurant teams were now working within the new protections which aim to create “a safe and respectful workplace”.
He added that the company has stringent rules to ensure its workplaces around the world are safe and respectful.
