The boss of McDonald’s in the UK has said 29 people have been dismissed over sexual harassment allegations over the past 12 months.
Alistair Macrow also told MPs that the alleged cases published by the BBC on Tuesday were “abhorrent, unacceptable, and there is no place for them in McDonald’s”.
It comes after workers at the fast-food chain told the BBC they are still facing sexual abuse and harassment, a year after Mr Macrow promised to clean up behaviour at the restaurants.
McDonald’s UK has insisted it has undertaken “extensive work” over the past year to ensure it is keeping workers safe.
Since the BBC’s original investigation into the company in July 2023, we have heard 160 allegations of abuse while the UK equality watchdog has heard 300 reported incidents of harassment. It now plans to intervene again.
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Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee, opened the session with those figures, asking Mr Macrow if McDonald’s had “basically now become a predator’s paradise”.
Mr Macrow said he would like to be able to investigate each allegation to understand them and ensure they can take “appropriate action”.
The measures McDonald’s UK has put in place mean it is able to offer a “secure, safe workplace where people are respected”, he said, adding he hears from his staff that the plan is “working”.
Mr Macrow said people were “speaking up”, adding that 75 allegations of sexual harassment had been made, 47 had been upheld with disciplinary action, and 29 individuals had been dismissed in the last year.
But he also said he cannot guarantee there will be a time when there are no harassment claims at the firm.
“I won’t be happy until there is,” he said. “In fact, if there was nobody speaking up I’d be concerned that something was stopping people speaking up.”
