McDonald's to pay $26 million to settle California wage lawsuit

McDonald'sCorp agreed topay$26milliontosettlea nearly seven-year-oldlawsuitaccusing the fast-food chain of underpaying USstaff at its corporate-owned restaurants inCalifornia.

The preliminarysettlement resolves claims that the company used a timekeeping system that cheated workers out of overtime, barred workers from taking rest breaks during their shifts, and forced workers to clean and iron their uniforms out of pocket.

It resolves claims by about 38,000 cashiers and cooks inCalifornia, and is the largestwagesettlement against Chicago-basedMcDonald'sin the United States, representatives for the plaintiffs said.

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The accord requiresMcDonald'stopayrequired overtime, trackpayelectronically, provide rest breaks during rather than at the start or end of shifts, and provide replacement work uniforms when old uniforms become damaged or worn out.

McDonald'sdenied wrongdoing as part of thesettlement. The accord requires court approval.

In a statement,McDonald'ssaid it still believes its employment practices complied withCalifornialabor law. It also said it is improving training at company-owned restaurants "to promote continued compliance with allwageand hour laws."

McDonald'shas long been a target of labor organizers who claim it underpays workers and provides unsafe working conditions at company-owned and franchised restaurants.

On November12, the American Civil Liberties Union and workers in Michigan suedMcDonald'sfor allegedly allowing sexual harassment to flourish at its restaurants.

Then on November21, a group of Chicago-area workers suedMcDonald'sand several franchisees over a recent restaurant redesign that they said left them vulnerable to physical attacks by angry customers.

Lawyers for theCaliforniaworkers may seek fees of up to one-third of thesettlement amount, according to court papers.

McDonald'shas roughly 14,000 USrestaurants, of which approximately 95 per centare franchised. It has more than 38,000 restaurants worldwide.