McDonald's Launches New Anti-Bullying and Anti-Violence Training Program

According to QSR Magazine, McDonald’s employs approximately 850,000 restaurant workers nationwide. Like any other workplace, the popular franchise is no stranger to inter-workplace conflicts both big and small, but McDonald’s scope is much wider than your typical restaurant or office. 

In May 2019, McDonald’s was facing 25 new sexual harassment charges. The allegations spurred a company-wide policy change that is now being implemented nationally, starting in October. The brand is working with franchisees to make working conditions safer and more respectful for restaurant workers. 

All of the brand’s 2,000-plus franchisees nationally are expected to commit to the new program. “Our job as employers is to make that possible while fostering an environment where those ambitions are never compromised by concerns of safety,” said Dorothy Stingley, McDonald’s franchisee and member of the National Franchisee Leadership Alliance, in a statement reported by QSR.

This new training program is the latest in many trends promoting better labor conditions for QSR employees. While many QSR owners claim that they are suffering from a labor crisis, employees themselves are fighting back for better working conditions by organizing unions, filing wage-theft claims and demanding a $15 federal minimum wage. 

Whether this is simply a move for good PR or the beginning of a widespread structural change has yet to be seen. Fast food restaurants in general appear to be investing less and less in employees, and turning instead to technology, such as self-serve kiosks, to fill the gaps. 

Read the full story on QSR here.