10,000 signatures reached
To: Alistair Macrow, McDonald’s UK and Ireland CEO
McDonald’s: Protect your staff from abuse by ending insecure work

Tackle the culture of abuse that McDonald's widespread use of zero-hours contracts enables. Make guaranteed hours the default for all staff, so predatory managers can't use the threat of insecurity to coerce and abuse their workers.
Why is this important?
No worker should be expected to tolerate sexual abuse, harassment or bullying of any kind at work. But McDonald’s has been hit by a wave of allegations that hundreds of workers are still facing sexual abuse and harassment, a year after its CEO promised action to protect workers.
Across the UK, 89% of McDonald’s workers are on zero-hours contracts. Zero-hours contracts create a huge imbalance of power in the workplace that leaves workers vulnerable to predatory bosses.
The shocking claims revealed in a new BBC investigation include:
- A 17-year-old being asked for sex in return for more shifts at work by her manager, who was in his 30s.
- That managers would “touch up” other members of staff and send sexually explicit messages to 16-18 year old employees.
- That managers were racist, homophobic and bullied an employee due to their disability.
- That a manager performed a Nazi salute to a Jewish employee.
No-one should ever find themselves in a position like this, having to put up with sexual harassment, racism, homophobia or bullying.
The BBC’s investigation has exposed how sexual harassment and insecure work can go hand in hand.
Zero-hours contracts create a huge imbalance of power in the workplace that leaves workers dependent on their managers for shifts on a week-by-week basis, and vulnerable to predatory bosses. If staff say no to their manager, they face losing future work.
McDonald’s claims that workers are free to move onto guaranteed hours contracts if they want to. But the BBC spoke to 50 workers across the country who say they were not given the choice to switch to minimum guaranteed hours.
McDonald’s is one of the largest employers in the UK. It should be setting the standard on workforce conditions – not leading a race to the bottom. It’s clear that use of zero-hours contracts is enabling abuse of fast-food workers. It’s time for McDonald’s to make a guaranteed hours contract the default for all workers.
Photo: Theasis/Getty Images
Photo: Theasis/Getty Images