McDonald’s to Pay Corporate Workers for Two Weeks in Quarantine

  • A majority of the chain’s locations are run by franchisees
  • Coronavirus is pressuring companies to offer paid sick leave
An employee hands a beverage to a customer at the drive-thru window of a McDonald's Corp. restaurant in Peru, Illinois.Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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McDonald’s Corp. said it will offer employees of corporate-owned U.S. restaurants two weeks of pay in the event of a quarantine, making the fast-food chain the latest company to offer concessions as the coronavirus outbreak worsens.

Corporate-owned restaurants also have existing policies to offer up to five paid time off days per year, according to information provided by the company. These locations, however, account for about 5% of total U.S. locations, with the rest being franchised, according to a recent filing. McDonald’s had 13,846 U.S. restaurants at the end of 2019.