The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has extended an agreement with McDonalds requiring it to take steps to prevent workplace sexual harassment after “serious allegations” were raised about the treatment of staff working in its restaurants. The particular details of the new agreement are set out in the link to the EHRC website below. They echo the themes that run through the EHRC guidance on the prevention of harassment and similar agreements between the EHRC and other organisations, including the importance of:

• conducting and regularly reviewing risk assessments in relation to sexual harassment;
• engaging with staff through a variety of methods to help identify risks and problems;
• fostering a culture in which staff are able to raise concerns and having channels for them to be able to do so easily;
• training staff on sexual harassment, including on mitigating identified risks;
• considering which members of your workforce may be particularly vulnerable to harassment and (where appropriate) taking specific steps to protect those workers; and
• having a robust procedure for dealing with complaints and ensuring they are handled appropriately.

One of the interesting aspects of this story is that McDonalds operates a franchise model, and its franchisees are not themselves parties to the agreement with the EHRC. Although the latest agreement requires McDonalds to implement a safeguarding plan to be rolled out across its restaurants and to request that all franchisees pledge their commitment to creating a ‘safe inclusive and respectful workplace culture’, how effective this will be depends on how robust the franchise agreements are on this point and how practical it is for McDonalds to enforce them.  The EHRC wrote to all McDonalds franchisees in March, reminding them of their duties to protect their employees from harassment and the potential legal consequences of failing to do so, perhaps an indication that without their co-operation change is likely to be slow.   

Businesses with similar models should consider the terms of their franchise agreements and imposing obligations on franchisees to take all reasonable steps to ensure that their staff are protected from harassment, mirroring the expanded duty that is expected to be introduced next year once the relevant provisions of the Employment Rights Bill come into force. As McDonald's ongoing woes demonstrate, as well as creating an unsafe environment for staff, failure to tackle this issue at the franchisee level can have a significant reputational effect on the brand as a whole. 

Equality regulator extends agreement with McDonald’s to prevent sexual harassment | EHRC

McDonald's managers in UK to get sexual abuse training - BBC News