More than 250,000 current and former McDonald's employees in Australia have launched legal action against the fast food giant in a dispute alleging the denial of paid rest breaks at almost 1,000 current and former restaurant sites.
The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) has lodged a Federal Court claim against 323 McDonald's operators, as well as the business itself, following almost two years of investigation into the matter.
The claim has been brought in conjunction with the trade union's 15 existing Federal Court claims agains McDonald's Australia. The SDA estimated that the claims will cover almost 65,000 employees in Victoria alone.
Under the Australian Fast Food Industry Award legislation, staff in this sector should be entitled to an uninterrupted 10-minute break when working for four hours or more. The SDA has alleged that McDonald's employees were not informed of this entitlement, and were also told that breaks could be exchanged for a free soft drink, or to go to the toilet.
The SDA has alleged that this was a systemic and deliberate form of exploitation, and that McDonald's aided its franchisees in the practice of denying paid breaks.
The union has asked the court to impose penalties against the 338 employers operating the relevant McDonald's sites over the past six years, in addition to awarding compensation for affected employees. It estimated that this could amount to AUS$250 million (£146.4 million) in compensation, plus penalties across the country, with 1.8% of the total number of working Australians covered.
In April 2022, the SDA commenced a national investigation into working conditions, including potential wage theft and break denial, with more than 10,000 employees getting directly involved.
Michael Donovan, secretary of SDA Victoria, said: “Nearly 65,000 current and former McDonald’s workers across the state have allegedly been denied their breaks and are owed thousands in compensation by McDonald’s. It’s clear this issue is systemic and widespread across the fast food chain.”
“Just because McDonald’s is a multinational, multi-billion dollar fast food behemoth doesn’t mean [it] can pick and choose which laws to follow. The SDA has sought to fix this issue with McDonald’s and [it has] refused to resolve it, let alone admit any wrongdoing.
“As one of the largest employers of young people in Australia, McDonald’s shouldn’t have to be dragged through the Federal Court for workers to receive their most basic entitlements.
“Across its restaurants, McDonald’s demands consistency and has rigorous training and procedures in place, it’s simply not believable that these breaks weren’t denied on purpose.
“These Federal Court Claims are not just about compensation and penalising McDonald’s, it’s about sending a clear message that this systematic exploitation of young workers across Victoria will not be tolerated. We won’t stop calling out these exploitative behaviours until McDonald’s cleans up its act and compensates workers.
“Anyone who has worked at McDonald’s in the past six years and didn’t receive their rest breaks is eligible to be part of our claims and we encourage them to contact the SDA immediately.”
A former department manager at McDonald’s Melbourne Airport said: "I worked at McDonald's for 10 years and I never remember receiving a paid rest break. When I asked about the entitlement I was told that 'you guys already stand enough' by my manager. I was repeatedly told that as a manager, I didn’t get breaks. I didn’t know this wasn’t the truth.”
McDonald's was contacted for comment prior to publication.
