McDonald's is raising the minimum wage and introducing paid time off for 90,000 employees in company-owned stores, the company announced on Wednesday.
The new wage hike of $1 above the local legal minimum wage will affect employees in 1,500 company-owned U.S. restaurants and is part of an effort to make McDonald's a "modern, progressive burger company on many fronts," Steve Easterbrook, CEO of McDonald's Corp., said in an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday.
There are 14,000 McDonald's in the U.S. employing around 750,000 people. Company-owned stores represent around 10 percent of the total number of McDonald's restaurants while the rest are franchise-operated.
The minimum wage increase for full- and part-time employees will go into effect on July 1, 2015. By the end of 2016, the company predicts minimum wage at company-owned restaurants will be at least $10 an hour. Company-owned employees will also be able to take paid time off.
All employees at company-owned and franchise locations will have the opportunity to earn a high school diploma or college credit and improve their language skills, said Easterbrook.
In September, thousands of fast-food workers protested around the country for better wages and the right to unionize. The $10-an-hour wage promised by McDonald's falls short of the $15 hourly wage protesters marched for last year.
The chain, like its rival restaurants, has long been at the center of the controversy surrounding the minimum wage for fast-food workers in America. McDonald's came under fire in late 2013 when, amid protests by fast-food workers demanding a wage hike, the company published its "McResource Line" offering financial and health advice for struggling employees. Among the tips for staff on a budget: singing in the shower to prevent stress, breaking food into pieces and attending church to lower blood pressure, Salon reported. The resource line has since shutdown.
McDonald's also created a mock budget for its employees earning $8.25 an hour, automatically assuming that they would have a second job.
The move follows similar efforts by companies like Walmart, which offered hike in minimum wage in February, and Starbucks, which announced a college tuition reimbursement program for its employees last June.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Before joining Newsweek, Lucy Westcott was an editorial fellow at The Wire. Previously a United Nations correspondent for the Inter ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
