McDonald's Australia Named Employer of Choice for Women
The Australian government's Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) has recognized McDonald's Australia as a 2008 Employer of Choice for Women. McDonald's Australia was the only retail trade organization to achieve this recognition.

The EOWA awards go to organizations that meet six criteria for efforts to promote equal opportunity for women in the workplace. To earn the award, McDonald's Australia had to demonstrate that it has policies and practices which support women across the organization, including "an inclusive organisational culture that is championed by the CEO, driven by senior executives and holds managers accountable."

Organizations must also demonstrate that these policies and programs produce positive outcomes from women. For McDonald's Australia, these include the fact that women hold 50% of senior management positions and more than 57% of restaurant management positions.

EOWA singled out McDonald's Australia's Summer Working Hours program and Fifth Week leave policy as among the outstanding initiatives reported by any organization of any kind. The Summer Working Hours program allows employees to begin work 30 minutes early or later in order to finish at 1:00 p.m. on Fridays during summer months. The Fifth Week leave policy gives employees an incentive to use their full annual leave entitlement so that they take advantage of the opportunity to rest and revitalize.