Wigan man speaks out as former McDonald's staff claim they endured ‘aggressive’ behaviour and mistreatment

Alistair Macrow, McDonald’s boss in the UK, issued an apology on Tuesday after the BBC found more than 100 current and former staff alleged they had been sexually harassed, assaulted, subjected to racism, bullying or harassment.

Former employees have now spoken to the PA news agency about dealing with “aggressive” staff members who threatened them and caused lasting anxiety.

A 21-year-old man from Wigan, who did not wish to be named, said he worked for McDonald’s for a couple of months between 2017 and 2018, while he was in his first year of college, but quit due to mistreatment.

He said: “I would constantly ask managers for help as I felt uncomfortable in certain areas of the restaurant and was always ignored and told I need to deal with it.

“I’d be put on new areas of the restaurant with zero help and then you would get the more popular and longer-term staff bullying you and making fun of you for not being good at something you’ve only been doing for an hour.

“Another thing about the managers was they were always creepily jokey with a lot of the female staff, especially the younger female staff.

“The work environment was just not nice to be in and gave me a lot of anxiety, which is still with me and carried over to me trying to get work now.”

The 21-year-old, who no longer works due to illness, added that the allocation of breaks also proved challenging to deal with.

“Some days you could be given a break one hour into an eight-hour shift and on others you’ll not be given your break until two hours before you finish,” he said.

He said leaving felt like a “weight off my shoulders” and executives at the company should “put themselves in the position of people like me, who aren’t very popular or confident and try and enjoy a shift for them”.

A talent acquisition manager based in Edinburgh who worked at McDonald’s from September 2009 to 2011, when she was 16 to 18 years old, said she endured intimidating behaviour and threats, including one worker who said he would slit the throats of girls working there.

The 30-year-old woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told PA: “Being shouted at, intimidated or sexually harassed was common.

“There was one member of staff in particular – he wasn’t a manager but was what they called a crew trainer – who was particularly aggressive and at one point threatened a group of girls working in the store, including me, with slitting our throats.

“Management were aware of the threats, but because he was good at his job and ‘one of the lads’ they let it slide and nothing was ever done about it.

“There were a couple who worked in the kitchens that were like that (too)… you would be scared to approach them for anything in case they started shouting at you.

“Management never did anything because they were obviously scared of them too and those were always the people who got the best shifts.”

She added: “It wasn’t unusual as well to walk through the kitchen and have your bum slapped or something too.”

Despite the experience, the worker said she had “generally enjoyed” the job and made friends while working there, but did not receive monetary recognition for her good work.

“I was a reliable member of staff – I never missed a shift, always turned up on time, and generally enjoyed the job and made a lot of friends while working there,” she said.

“I was promoted from crew member to hospitality manager around one year into my time with McDonald’s as I was performing well and regularly trained new members of staff.

“However, when promoted, they refused to give me a pay rise in line with the new position.”

When she was 18, the then-McDonald’s worker made the decision to leave her university course, so took on full-time hours at the fast food chain.

After then securing a place on an undergraduate programme with a bank that was to begin in October 2011, she decided to leave her job at McDonald’s.

She said she was met with contempt from her store manager, who rapidly reduced her shifts on her zero-hour contract.

“When I told him, he scoffed, and told me I was stupid to leave and I would regret it,” she said.

“A few days later the new schedule came out and at the time, I was working 30 to 40 hours per week – on the new schedule, I was given six hours twice per month for the remainder of my time there.

“I asked why, as I was happy and needed to work until I was earning from (the bank).

“My store manager said I wasn’t committed enough so I wasn’t getting anymore hours but could ask my colleagues to cover their shifts if I wanted.

“It left me in a really difficult financial position when all I wanted to do was give them plenty of notice and do the right thing.”

After McDonald’s UK boss Mr Macrow’s apology was posted on Twitter, many former workers replied to the post with stories of mistreatment, and the company has responded to many of them asking for further details so it could investigate the issues they faced.

A spokesperson for McDonald’s said: “We take all allegations extremely seriously and will investigate any that are brought to us thoroughly.

“All proven breaches of our code of conduct will be met with the most severe measures we can legally impose, up to and including dismissal.”