WORKPLACE
Nick Bonyhady
Workers at some of the country’s largest fast food chains will face reduced shifts and forced leave as part of a temporary change to workplace rules that aims to save their jobs.
The changes to the fast food industry’s default pay and conditions rules were negotiated between unions and employer groups to ensure workers who cannot access Job-Keeper do not slip through the cracks. But they have sparked dissent in the union movement, with the activist Retail and Fast Food Workers Union accusing the larger Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) of ‘‘attacking’’ workers’ job security by agreeing to the arrangement.
Under the deal, part-time workers can agree on a minimum number of hours with their employer and then be rostered hours above that on an ad-hoc basis, rather than having the same set of hours each week.
Employers can also tell their workers to take annual leave and staff will not be able to ‘‘unreasonably’’ refuse, as part of a suite of temporary changes slated to last three months at most, and which apply only to employees who cannot get JobKeeper.
The SDA’s national secretary Gerard Dwyer said it would ‘‘ensure work for as many fast food employees as possible in a sector hard hit by COVID-19’’. But Josh Cullinan, secretary of the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union, said it was structured to benefit corporate stores from giants such as McDonald’s.