The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that McDonald’s could be treated as a joint-employer and share responsibility for the working practices and general welfare of all franchise employees.
McDonald’s remains one of the biggest franchise operators in the US today, with up to 14,000 restaurants in the US alone owned and operated by franchises.
Something of a blessing and a curse rolled into one, the fact that around 90% of all McDonald’s outlets in America are not in fact directly operated by the company itself is often blamed for the somewhat inconsistent standards experienced from branch to branch. What’s more, it’s also been suggested that working practices are also anything but consistent across the US and the way in which the firm is for the most part run by franchises makes it somewhat difficult to properly monitor and control.
That could all be set to change going forward however as the US National Labor Relations Board has said that when and where a franchisee of McDonald’s slips up in any way, some of the responsibility and blame could be shared by the company itself. It didn’t take long for McDonald’s representatives to confirm its intent to oppose the proposed measures, though the response from labor advocates has been universally positive.
If the ruling is enforced, employees working for franchised McDonald’s outlets could find themselves classified as working under two employers at the same time – the franchisee and the larger McDonald’s corporation.
Inconsistencies in service standards are of course far from the root of the debate in this instance. Instead, the ruling by the labor regulator represents a response to almost 200 complaints pertaining to unfair working practices files by employees of McDonald’s franchise outlets over the last two years. Those involved accused their employers of taking punitive measures in the aftermath of large-scale protests, where fast food workers demanded more agreeable working conditions and better rates of pay.
To date, 43 of the complaints have been upheld or deemed viable.
“If the parties cannot reach settlement in these cases, complaints will be issued and McDonald’s, USA, LLC will be named as a joint employer respondent,” read the ruling reached Tuesday by the NLRB.
McDonald’s has long been accused by many of its workers are labor groups alike of turning a blind eye to what goes on behind the doors of its franchise units – a wholly unacceptable policy when nine out of every ten McDonald’s outlets is franchisee owned and run
The ruling was labeled a “huge victory” by the Service Employees International Union.
Of course, the same cannot be said for the folks at McDonald’s HQ who have hit back at the ruling and insist it will be fought.
“McDonald’s also believes that this decision changes the rules for thousands of small businesses, and goes against decades of established law regarding the franchise model in the United States,” wrote Heather Smedstad, McDonald’s USA senior vice president of human resources.
And they’re not alone in their resistance either, as The International Franchise Association is also convinced that the ruling will deliver a hammer-blow to thousands of businesses across the US.
“If franchisors are joint employers with their franchisees, these thousands of small business owners would lose control of the operations and equity they worked so hard to build,” read a statement from the group.