Grill'd contracts under scrutiny as sacked ex-worker takes burger chain to court

Date
    July 23, 2015 


National burger chain Grill'd is underpaying hundreds of young workers by hiring staff on compulsory traineeships and outdated employment agreements.   

An analysis of Grill'd workplace deals across the country shows many employees, often teenagers, are being paid less than the award, the basic wages safety net.

It comes as the company is embroiled in a legal dispute with ex-employee Kahlani Pyrah. She alleges she was sacked for challenging the below-award wages at an outlet in Camberwell.

Employees at dozens of company-run Australian outlets and franchises that opened before or during the WorkChoices era are paid flat hourly rates with no extra entitlements, meaning their overall pay is often less than the award.   


Staff members are paid hourly rates of between $9.50 at the age of 16 to $17.70 as adults over 21, which are similar to those in the fast food industry award. But without penalty rates, employees could be more than $40 worse off on 4.5-hour weekend shifts compared to the award.

Grill'd franchises that have opened since the unpopular WorkChoices legislation was dumped are required to include higher wage rates in their agreements, and some include overtime pay.

But enrolment in retail training programs – which Grill'd contracts stipulate as a "compulsory and a condition of ongoing employment – allows the company to continue paying its young workforce below full wages.



Grill'd employee Ellie Schuler, who works at the company's main Brisbane restaurant, is the latest to speak out. The 21-year-old says Grill'd traineeships are used as an "excuse" for keeping wages so low.   

Ms Schuler, a former team leader, said she was instructed to put a "positive spin" on traineeships when she was quizzed by younger workers about their meagre pay cheques.

"If an employee ever came to us questioning their wages or why we don't get penalty rates, we were told that we had to say whatever we could to put a positive spin on it and abolish any negativity in the store about pay," she said.

"Whenever it was brought up to management, questions about why we are paid so low, they would put it down to 'you are doing the traineeship through us, that's why'."

Ms Schuler said any information or training sessions to do with the Grill'd-mandated certificates III and IV traineeships were scarce and the programs were rarely completed by anyone.

Grill'd founder and managing director Simon Crowe the Grill'd training program was the fabric of the company and its values.

"We believe in young people, and are proud to give them a pathway that extends right through to owning a stake in their own business," he said.

Chief operating officer Jon Swann said all Grill'd employment agreements were legally valid, ensuring lawful rates of pay for employees including trainees. He said the flat hourly pay rates had been tested against the award at the time the deal was struck in 2005.

"Rates of pay have been reviewed annually, including relevant increases, to ensure that they do not fall below any base rate of pay in the otherwise applicable award," he said.

An 18-year-old employee at a Melbourne Grill'd franchise told Fairfax Media she was forced to drop out of university due to the strain of living on the traineeship wage of $11 an hour.

The employee said she had never participated in any training activities since starting at the franchise store earlier this year.   

"I have never done any training the whole time I have been there," said the worker, who did not want to be named.

"We think the traineeships are a way of exploiting young workers who need the work."

Another Melbourne worker said the training was "at best, inconsistent, at worst, non-existent".

Hospitality union United Voice said the Grill'd agreements were not illegal but were unfair. State secretary Jess Walsh said "alarm bells are ringing" over the use of mandated traineeships at Grill'd.

Ms Walsh said the union had received complaints that the traineeships involve little or no training and appeared to be a "calculated effort to suppress wages".   

"We are looking closely into making a complaint to the training authority," she said.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/grilld-contracts-under-scrutiny-as-sacked-exworker-takes-burger-chain-to-court-20150722-gii2hl.html#ixzz3geGtHnjm

Poor kids, they're trying to do the right thing and work for a bit of money...and even that is being denied them.

This sort of nonsense needs to stop. I don't agree with it. How anyone can ... is beyond me.

Nice bit of back pay for the kiddies coming up and a boycott from myself.

One of it not the most expensive places for a burger as well.

Lisa Jones wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2015 at 7:42am:



And as Wisdom says - their junk food is expensive too.

aquascoot wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2015 at 8:06am:


what we desperately need is for employers to stop ripping of our kids. You make it sound like they are doing the kids a favour by ripping them off. Without the kids there is no business for the bosses to profit.

John Smith wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2015 at 8:10am:



more and more small businesses will fail.
as the politicians pander to the aging baby boomers with promises of increased health spending so we can look after this molly coddled generation of sooks who all ate to much sugar and fat, there will be no money left in the economy to keep small businesses going.

from the coffee shop, to the hairdresser to the burger joint to the small clothing store....as money is diverted, the GST raised, etc etc to pay for the needs of the boomers, there will be a relentless rise in youth unemployment.

do you think those old codgers in the public service will give up their gravy for the kids??

what we need is a wealth transfer back to small business and to young kids to be  innovators and entrepreneurs, but you need $$$ in the hands of consumers to make this work.
you dont need $$$$  in the hands of a wasteful dept of health

Lisa Jones wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2015 at 8:18am:


I didn't misinterpret anything. Scoot seems to think business solves everything, he's kidding himself and the story in the OP is another example of it. Without the public servants to keep these things under control, we'd be back to kids working down mine shafts 12 hrs a day for $2 a week in no time. Who's going to do all the jobs the public service does that aren't profitable? Try going to a private hospital after hours for an emergency op, your chances of finding a doctor are none and buckleys.

Sacking govt. employees doesn't create demand, you'll have thousands more unemployed with no income to spend. To bad if you have a coffee shop or a restaurant in Canberra. You can thank idiots like scoot for your lack of customers.

John Smith wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2015 at 8:28am:


John, a lot of the recent debate has been about raising the GST to pay for public hospitals.
As someone with many relatives who work in Qld public hospitals, let me assure you they are in a state of total dysfunction, no morale and a total paralysis of service delivery.
When even Anna Bligh recognised that the best way by far to cut waiting lists was to simply give people vouchers for the private sector, you know that at least this states public hospitals do not deserve one extra cent of funding.
Last week, a relative told me that a patient was prepped for surgery, all the staff were there, the instruments were all opened and all this cost was already in the system when the aneasthetist said the patient had not signed the consent form for the op and had already had his pre med and so the whole show was cancelled, the surgeon probably went off to play golf, the anesthetist got an early mark, the theatre nurses got to read new idea and the patient gets rescheduled at more expense.
and no one care.
Costs are rising by 9 % pa in the hospital sector and the waiting lists get worse.
The sector needs to be privatised to prevent these sort of "public sector union " scams