Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Unite accuses McDonald's of wage theft

Unite accuses McDonald's of wage theft

Unite Union has accused McDonald's of deliberately denying many workers their legal entitlement to an alternative holiday or lieu day for working a public holiday, or alternatively denying workers pay for a public holiday when they were entitled to it.

"From wage and time records we have received and analysed, it seems clear that on average each McDonald's worker has missed out on this entitlement at least twice a year," said Unite National Director Mike Treen

"We first wrote to McDonald's three years ago about the need to fix how annual leave and other holiday act entitlements were being calculated.

"At first, this centred on a failure to calculate annual leave correctly. After some delay, the company said they would fix everything that was owed, and go back six years from when we first wrote to them - a total of nine years now.

"We understand the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise have also been subjecting them to an audit of their obligations.

"Then a legal case last year against Wendy's confirmed that a formula that was being used by that company and had been used for many years by McDonald's was wrong in determining 'what was an otherwise working day' which is the legal basis for earning lieu days or pay for a public holiday.

"What McDonald's and Wendy's had done was insist that a worker had to work the same day as the public holiday three weeks in a row before the holiday. This was deemed far too restrictive in an employment relations authority judgement which said a simple majority of weeks worked over the previous three months would be enough to earn the entitlement.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

"So we asked McDonald's to voluntarily accept this judgement and incorporate the adjustment needed into their planned remediation for annual leave that was underpaid in the past.

"They refused. So we asked for wage and time records that would show how much workers had lost when we applied the formula from the authority decision. It was two days per worker at a value of at least $150.

"With 9000 crew losing on average two days pay each year the lost wages could be worth over a million dollars a year - a total of over nine million dollars for this 'mistake' if taken back nine years.

"That nine million dollars needs to be added to people's pay before the company recalculates a correct payment for the annual leave they owe.

"McDonald's have refused to confirm they will do that so we have written to MBIE to make sure it is included in their audit of what McDonald's owes.

"Workers have been sacked for eating a burger they haven't paid for.

"It's not good enough for wage theft to be simply compensated for at the value of what was lost. There is no incentive for the company to make sure it never happens in the first place.

"If companies had to pay workers two or three times what was denied them the companies like McDonald's would spend more time making sure they got workers pay right in the first place," concluded Mr Treen.


ends

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.