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0 Every McDonald’s in Britain has been warned its owners could face legal action if they fail to take steps to protect staff from sexual abuse.
The equality watchdog has written to all 1,400 branches telling them they must comply with their legal duties, or risk enforcement action, after a BBC investigation uncovered claims of a toxic culture of sexual assault and harassment.
In January, McDonald’s workers told us they still faced sexual harassment more than a year after its chief executive promised to clean up behaviour at the fast-food chain.
McDonald’s said it is “committed” to doing everything it can to ensure a safe working environment for all employees.
It added: “We are confident that the plan we have in place is working.”
The BBC has asked one current McDonald’s employee, who works for a franchise restaurant in southwest Scotland, for his reaction to the letter. He told us he hoped the intervention would lead to ”concrete change” for people like him.
The 19-year-old worker, who we’re calling Alan, told us in January he had been repeatedly subjected to “degrading and humiliating” verbal abuse by his colleagues, and faced “homophobic slurs”.
Alan still works there. He says things are not much different and he wants to “get away” from it.
