Fast food giants want part-time work to be more flexible

Patrick Hatch
14 March, 2018
The Age

Fast-food giants McDonalds, Hungry Jacks and Red Rooster are pushing to make part-time work in burger joints and pizza shops more flexible, and for the removal of penalty rates for working between 5am and 6am.

But the changes will not affect most of their own workers, leading to claims they are trying to soften award conditions in case the workplace tribunal terminates their wage deals.

In a submission to a review of the Fast Food Industry Award made with McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s and Red Rooster’s owner Cravable Brands, the Australian Industry Group said part-time work conditions were too inflexible.

The business group said the Fair Work Commission should remove the requirements for part-time workers and employers to set regular start and finish times for shifts, with time worked outside those agreed hours paid as overtime. These regular hours can only be changed in writing.

The Ai Group said the award should be changed so workers and employers agreed to guaranteed minimum work hours, and the days and times that workers are available.

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Workers would then be given their actual hours via a flexible roster.

The country’s largest union representing fast food workers, the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association, or the SDA, has backed the changes, saying it would make part-time work more attractive to employers.

SDA national secretary Gerard Dwyer said that was a win for workers facing under-employment and insecure casual work.

“We’re pleased these improvements to the Award will encourage increased permanency and provide a guaranteed minimum income for Australia’s part time fast food workers,” Mr Dwyer said. 

The AI Group’s proposed changes, negotiated with the SDA, also gave part-time workers a minimum eight hours work a week compared to no minium currently, Mr Dwyer said.

The Ai Group’s proposal also makes it possible for workers to agree to the 15 per cent overnight penalty rate to be cut off at 5am, instead of 6am. The SDA opposed this.

But the rival Retail and Fast Food Workers Union questioned in its own submission why McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s and Craveable Brands wanted to change the award conditions at all when they had their own wage agreements in place.

RAFFWU said the companies pushing to change the award faced “the very real prospect” of the Fair Work Commission terminating their EBAs – as it had Coles’ and Domino’s’ – and were trying to limit the cost of paying higher award penalty rates to casuals by employing part-time workers on a more flexible basis.

“This application has the effect of being a defensive bulwark to potential termination proceedings,” RAFFWU said in its submission.

“They seek the injustice meted out on their employees under extant instruments to be codified and applied to all fast food employees.

“They know this is the only way to guarantee they avoid the overtime (and offset the penalty rates) burden which will befall them when workers successfully terminate their extant instruments.”

The AI Group’s workplace lawyers representing the three fast food giants said a number of employers had provided evidence to support its application, and that it would present new evidence to the Fair Work Commission in response to RAFFWU’s submission.

The Fair Work Commission terminated Coles’ and Domino’s enterprise bargaining agreements, both negotiated with the SDA, last year because they left workers worse off than under the award.

Domino’s workers are now being paid under the award while a new wage deal goes before the tribunal.