MCDONALD’S is at the centre of a “sex for shifts” scandal as 700 workers launch fresh harassment claims against the fast food giant.
Managers are being accused of asking teenage staff members how many people they had slept with, inappropriately touching young employees during shifts and “preying on young female workers”.
Claire, who is using fake name, worked at a West Midlands branch until May 2023 when she was forced to quit due to uncomfortable behaviour.
She told the BBC her shift manager would ask her for sex in return for extra shifts, which she refused.
‘Claire’ was 17 at the time while he was in his 30s.
She said: “You don’t expect that to happen. It was totally inappropriate.”
‘Claire’ also claims when she tried to raise the issue, she was told to “suck it up”.
A female worker, 20, also claims a male manager at her East of England branch sent her nude images. She had to leave her job in August last year.
Other allegations include the bullying of a current 16-year-old employee – who says they were sworn and shouted at.
All of the fresh claims are in relation to events which took place after November 2023.
It comes one year after the take-out boss Alistair Macrow promised to clean up behaviour across the chain restaurants.
Macrow first appeared in front of parliament’s Business and Trade Committee in November 2023 where he told MPs they were working on improving conditions for staff after treatment concerns were uncovered.
But one current and two former workers from up and down the UK said promised restaurant audits were stage-managed by the branches.
And now, more than 700 current and ex-junior employees are taking legal action against McDonald’s for “failing to protect them”.
A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “Ensuring the 168,000 people that work in McDonald’s restaurants are safe is the most important responsibility for both us and our franchisees, and we have undertaken extensive work over the last year to ensure we have industry-leading practices in place to support this priority.
“Any incident of misconduct and harassment is unacceptable and subject to rapid and thorough investigation and action.”
The company added: “Our relentless focus on eliminating all forms of harassment at McDonald’s is led by a newly created team and informed by the experience and guidance of external experts.
“We are confident that we are taking significant and important steps to tackle the unacceptable behaviours facing every organisation.”
