Fast-food retailer McDonald's Guangdong said in a company statement yesterday it always abided by labour laws and regulations and paid employees according to standards set by law.
'As a responsible employer, we have always complied with relevant laws and regulations ... and provide employees with salaries in line with related rules of the country,' it said.
The statement did not mention allegations from a Guangzhou newspaper, The New Express Daily, that McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut, had been underpaying part-time workers by up to 40 per cent and making them work overtime.
The spokesman for McDonald's Guangdong did not reply when asked whether the statement was a denial of the accusations. Yum! Brands, which owns both KFC and Pizza Hut, did not respond to inquiries.
The New Express Daily said Yum's Guangdong management told the newspaper it was hiring employees paid by the hour, neither 'full-time' nor 'part-time', and thus did not need to follow the wage standard. The claim was criticised as 'ridiculous' by a local labour official.
Zhang Xiang, spokesman for the Guangdong Department of Labour and Social Security said the authorities were still investigating the issue.