NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) July 30, 2014--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings on McDonald's Corp. (or any other restaurant company we rate with franchised restaurants) are not immediately affected by National Labor Relations Board Office of the General Council's determination that McDonald's USA LLC, a subsidiary of McDonald's Corp., could be considered a joint employer with its franchisees. At this point, we do not expect this decision or subsequent proceedings to lead to any material costs or liabilities for highly franchised McDonald's Corp. that would affect our business or financial risk assessments. More broadly, for other restaurants we rate, a higher mix of franchised units results in less exposure to commodity cost fluctuations and packaging
