ALJAZEERA: …The labor board attorney said the fast food company engaged in practices such as “threats, surveillance, interrogation, promises of benefit, and overbroad restrictions on communicating with union representatives or with other employees about unions” in restaurants across the country…
Crucially, the general counsel argues that the McDonald’s Corporation is responsible for the alleged mistreatment of employees at franchised restaurants. In labor complaints filed with the NLRB back in March, workers alleged that the corporation was a “joint employer” with the proprietors of individual McDonald’s franchises, making both McDonald’s and its franchisees responsible for any labor law violations that may occur within those franchised restaurants…
McDonald’s — along with powerful industry groups such as the International Franchise Association (IFA) — has typically asserted that franchisees are the sole employers of workers at such restaurants, and that parent companies are not liable for how those workers are treated. But the NLRB rejected that logic in its finding on Friday, saying that McDonald’s “engages in sufficient control over its franchisees’ operations, beyond protection of the brand, to make it a putative joint employer with its franchisees.” … (more)
