Up to $150 million will be put back into Australia’s McDonald’s workers’ pockets following a landmark Fair Work Commission decision.
Earlier this week, the workplace watchdog terminated McDonald’s enterprise agreement and ordered the fast-food giant to move its 109,000-strong Australian workforce back onto the fast-food award by February 2020.
It ruled the expired agreement meant some staffers earnt less than the industry minimum – and the change will see full penalty rates paid for the first time in decades.
But it stopped short of making the termination of the award retrospective, which means workers will not be backpaid wages.
Retail and Fast Food Workers Union secretary John Cullinan told news.com.au that workers would receive an extra $1300 a year on average as a result.
It also means thousands of part-time workers will soon score fixed shifts instead of relying on minimum weekly hours.
“It depends when in the week they are working but on average our detailed calculations show workers will get $1200 to $1300 more per year on average, which equals up to $150 million across the entire network,” he said.
“McDonald’s is by far the largest fast-food employer in Australia, and after a three-and-a-half year campaign and a seven-month case, these workers will finally get their penalty rates, job security and other rights for the first time.
“Even little things like a laundry allowance – all these rights are finally coming back to Macca’s workers after decades, so it’s a huge deal and we are particularly delighted there’s going to be $150 million put back into workers’ pockets which never should have been taken from them.”
The McDonald’s agreement was one of many made with the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) that led to better base rates and some other benefits but which also meant some employees who worked on weekends were actually worse off.
“This is the latest in a series of scandalous agreements that have been thrown out … we’re now approaching a billion dollars in more wages paid to workers who will no longer have these rotten deals applied to them,” Mr Cullinan said.
“It has been a huge three years of work, but it’s now adding up to these mega sums which is significant.”
McDonald’s now has until February 3, 2020 to update its payroll systems and make any other necessary changes.
News.com.au contacted McDonald’s for comment.
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