Datganiad

Our letter to McDonald's franchises

Wedi ei gyhoeddi: 14 Mawrth 2025

Dear Sir or Madam,

Your legal obligations regarding complaints of discrimination and harassment in McDonald's franchised restaurants

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is Great Britain’s independent national equality body and human rights institution. We have a statutory responsibility to promote an understanding of the Equality Act 2010, along with a range of enforcement powers. These enable us to ensure the law is followed, and to take action if it is not.

We are writing to all McDonald’s franchises to remind you of:

  • your legal duties under the Equality Act 2010
  • the potential consequences of failing to comply
  • the action franchise owners and restaurant managers should take to comply with the law

In February 2023, we used our enforcement powers to enter into a legally binding agreement with McDonald’s Restaurants Limited (MRL). This was aimed at preventing sexual harassment within its restaurants. Franchises are not parties to the agreement. But they must fully comply with the law themselves. However, we acknowledge that you may already have taken some steps, and are working with MRL to address these issues.

On 7 January 2025, the BBC published the latest in a series of troubling reports in which young people describe serious allegations of harassment and discrimination taking place in McDonald’s restaurants. The House of Commons’ Business and Trade Committee has called McDonald’s UK & Ireland Chief Executive Officer, Alistair Macrow, to give oral evidence on the matter.

These allegations are extremely serious and there have been repeated incidents. We consider it likely that some alleged incidents relate to franchised restaurants, given they make up the majority of McDonald’s outlets.

Duties under the Equality Act 2010

Employers have legal duties to their staff under the Equality Act 2010. You must ensure that your workers are not subjected to unlawful discrimination or harassment on the basis of any of the nine protected characteristics set out in the Act. You must also ensure workers are not victimised if they make a complaint or support others to make complaints. Discrimination and harassment does not need to be intentional to be unlawful.

You will be liable for any acts of discrimination or harassment that your employees or workers you contract with commit, unless you can show you took all reasonable steps to prevent those unlawful acts. It does not matter whether you knew or approved about the act complained of.

Since October 2024, the Equality Act 2010 includes a new duty on employers to take reasonable steps to avoid workers being subjected to sexual harassment. This is called the ‘preventative duty’. This duty includes preventing harassment not only from fellow workers, but also from third parties. Third parties include suppliers, customers and members of the public. You are required to actively take reasonable steps to avoid harassment occurring and you should not wait until there is a complaint of sexual harassment before you act.

The sort of reasonable steps you should take to comply with the preventative duty include:

  • communicating your business’s zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment
  • undertaking regular risk assessments to identify where sexual harassment may occur and the steps needed to prevent it
  • ensuring younger and more vulnerable workers are properly safeguarded
  • ensuring complaints are dealt with sensitively, and effectively through robust policies and procedures
  • being actively aware of what is happening in your workplace and identifying any warning signs, by engaging with staff

It is especially important that younger or vulnerable workers feel able to speak up if they experience or witness discrimination or harassment.

Our enforcement powers

We have a range of statutory enforcement powers to ensure compliance with the Equality Act 2010. These powers include the ability to hold formal investigations where we suspect an unlawful act has taken place. We have powers to compel people to provide evidence, including oral evidence, if needed.

We do not need to suspect that sexual harassment has actually occurred to enforce the preventative duty. A failure to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment would therefore constitute an unlawful act. You can read more information about our legal powers on our website, www.equalityhumanrights.com.

Next steps

All McDonald’s franchise owners and restaurant business managers should review our guidance to ensure they fully understand and are able to comply with their legal duties. You can find a range of resources on our website to support compliance with your legal duties. These include:

We have provided a QR code at the end of this letter. This links to our website, where you can access the resources listed above.

It is your duty to ensure that any anti-discrimination and harassment measures you currently have in place are effective, and to take any necessary steps to protect your workers.
Any franchise restaurant that does not comply with its legal duties may be at risk of enforcement action.

You should share the contents of this letter with your restaurant business managers. It is essential that staff are aware of their rights. We invite you to display the QR code on a staff notice board, if appropriate.

Yours sincerely,

John Kirkpatrick

Chief Executive

Equality and Human Rights Commission

 

The version of this letter that was sent to McDonald's branches included a QR code linking to our website.