Muffin Break workers underpaid more than $26,000

EWIN HANNAN

September 3, 2019
The Australian

More than 160 Muffin Break and Jamaica Blue cafe workers have been underpaid $26,562, the Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker has revealed.

The news comes seven months after Muffin Break faced a customer backlash when its general manager said entitled Millennials were not willing to do unpaid work to get ahead.

Ms Parker said franchisor Foodco had backpaid 166 staff under a two year compliance agreement.

Third-party audits identified 152 employees were underpaid a total of $4,244.75.

The regulator referred an additional 12 requests for assistance from Muffin Break and Jamaica Blue staff to Foodco, which resulted in 14 employees being backpaid $22,317.55.

The FWO asked Foodco to sign a two-year compliance deed in 2017, which covered more than 4000 Muffin Break and Jamaica Blue workers across Australia.

This followed enforceable undertakings the FWO entered into with two Muffin Break franchise operators, one in 2014 and the other with a former operator in 2016, after workers at these cafes were underpaid.

In an interview with news.com.au in February Muffin Break general manager Natalie Brennan criticised Millennials for being unwilling to work for free.

“There’s just nobody walking in my door asking for an internship, work experience or unpaid work, nobody. You don’t see it anymore,’ Ms Brennan said.

“You don’t see it anymore. Before that people would be knocking on your door all the time, you couldn’t keep up with how many people wanted to be working. In fact I’d run programs because there were so many coming in.”

Last year she had one intern in marketing and “that was it”. “I can’t even remember the one before that, six, seven, eight years ago,” she said.

“In essence they’re working for free, but I can tell you every single person who has knocked on my door for an internship or work experience has ended up with a job. Every single person, because they back themselves.”

Following a community backlash, Ms Brennan released a statement saying “the recent article does not reflect my values or those of (Muffin Break’s parent company) Foodco”.

She apologised “for any misunderstanding or upset”.

“Every day for the last 25 years, I’ve worked with young people who are motivated, passionate and hardworking. This is as true today as it was when I started my career,” she said.

“I don’t expect anyone to work unpaid and Foodco Group policy is, and has always been, that all employees including interns, employed either directly or through our brands, are paid according to relevant awards.”