McDonald’s has exited the US National Restaurant Association, a trade group representing the country’s restaurant industry, due to disagreements over employee wage policies, as reported by Bloomberg.
During a briefing with Wall Street analysts, Stifel Financial Corp’s analyst Chris O’Cull highlighted the company’s departure in a client note.
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The fast-food giant has opposed the tipped wage model, a system supported by the National Restaurant Association that permits businesses to include tips in meeting the legal minimum wage requirements.
Under this model, employers must cover any shortfall if tips fail to bring an employee’s earnings up to the minimum wage threshold.
The chain has chosen not to comment on the matter and attempts to reach the association for a statement have been unsuccessful.
The departure of McDonald’s is a significant blow to the association, which has been instrumental in advocating for tax measures included in US President Donald Trump’s spending bill, perceived as advantageous for the restaurant industry.
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By GlobalDataThe group has also opposed regulations that could increase the liability of chains for labour violations committed by franchisees. Franchisees operate the majority of the McDonald’s US locations.
The tipped-wage system received legislative support when Trump’s spending bill introduced a tax exemption for gratuities, with certain restrictions.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski has expressed support for the “no tax on tips” provision, noting that it would not impact McDonald’s directly since its employees do not receive tips.
Kempczinski also indicated that McDonald’s has been in discussions with the government regarding the federal minimum wage.
The association has previously stated that tipped workers often earn significantly more than the minimum wage.
For the second quarter (Q2) of 2025, McDonald’s reported a net income of $2.25bn, an increase of 11% compared with the same quarter of the previous year.
