The struggling fast-food giant has bowed to rising public pressure by the American labor market over income inequality and joined with Wal-Mart and the parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshall’s, and Home Goods in raising the wages of their workers.
To be specific, McDonald’s starting wages will be at least $1 more than the legal minimum wage as set by law. All employees up to restaurant managers will also get a “pay bump.” McDonald’s project that this will result in an hourly wage of over $10 an hour by the end of 2016. The new average is $2.75 over the federal minimum wage.
There is a big catch to all the Hoopla over the pay raise. It only applies to 1,500 McDonald’s-owned restaurants. It does not apply to the workers at 14,350 franchise-owned restaurants, which make up 90 percent of the McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. and the majority of the employees.
McDonald’s says franchises can set their own pay policies, but other perks that have been added will be available to all U.S. employees, regardless of employment in a franchise-owned or corporate-owned facility. They include:
Free high school completion: McDonald’s will pay for any employee to take classes needed to earn a high school diploma through a national program.
Financial assistance for college: The food giant will assist with college credits and tuition, but more details will be coming.
English classes for non-English speakers: Free English classes for non-English speakers are to be expanded.
Paid time off: Starting July 1, full-time and part-time workers with at least one year on the job who work at a company-owned location would be able to accrue paid time off. For example, an employee working 20 hours a week would accrue 20 hours of paid time off in a year.
McDonald’s new CEO, Steve Easterbrook said in a statement the pay raise and added benefits were in response to employee surveys and is aimed at improving business. “We know that a motivated workforce leads to better customer service so we believe this initial step not only benefits our employees,” he said. “It will improve the McDonald’s restaurant experience.”
