www.afr.com
The Fair Work Commission has axed Pizza Hut’s national workplace agreements at the behest of the retail workers’ union, in a shock decision that could increase labour costs for the struggling franchise by millions of dollars a year effective immediately. However, in an extraordinary twist, Pizza Hut has said it was unaware of the ruling which effectively requires it to pay weekend penalties from this past weekend for the first time in three decades.
The termination reverts hundreds of the franchise employees to the award, cutting their normal time hourly rates but also granting them full weekend and evening penalties, higher public holiday rates and longer minimum shifts. The Pizza Hut deals are the first major agreements the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association has terminated since its trade-offs of weekend penalties in retail and fast-food attracted controversy last year for allegedly leaving some workers worse than the award.
However, when contacted by The Australian Financial Review, both the SDA and the Pizza Hut were unaware of the decision handed down on Friday. The decision affects most of the 320 stores in the franchise network, which private equity firm Allegro acquired last year.
Source: www.afr.com
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