McDonald's accused of exploiting young workers with 'learn and churn' practice
News.com.au
October 9 2018
McDonald's Australia has been accused of systematically "churning" its workforce and reducing shifts for workers as they grow older in a bid to cut costs and hire younger staff.
The global fast food chain is a major employer in Australia with more than 100,000 workers in stores across the country, which are mostly franchises.
But the company and its franchisees have come under scrutiny for engaging in what has been described as a practice of "churning" staff as they grow older to hire younger and cheaper staff.
McDonald's Australia chief executive officer Andrew Gregory denied there was any widespread practice across stores.
"We take it really seriously to do the right thing and uphold our employment standards," he told 7.30 in an interview.
"Half of the workers in our restaurants are over 18, and it's not good business practice for us to not employ those people over 18.
Nelio Da Silva started working at a McDonald's store in Melbourne when he was 16.
But as he got older he noticed his roster was changing.
"Over time I started to get less and less shifts … it wasn't straight away, it was over time," he told 7.30.
"I got less shifts because I got older, and definitely more expensive.
"They wanted to give shifts that they could to the younger people.
"I've talked to many of my friends. They all started to drop off and eventually, we all started to leave."
Other staff in stores around the country raised similar concerns.
Max Beech began working at a McDonald's store in Queensland when he was 16 and moved to a Brisbane store when he was 18.
He says getting rid of older workers was an "unspoken rule" between managers.
"A lot of the time they talked about how they were trying to get rid of certain people for this reason or that reason — a big one was when people were getting too old," he told 7.30.
"So people turning 18 or 19, they'd start to talk about phasing them out because they were getting too old and they'd have to pay them too much.
"And that was a common thing."
'Soul crushing': Former McDonald's staff speak out
Mr Beech worked night shifts in a fast-paced store in Brisbane's nightlife centre, and said he found the work "soul crushing" at times.
"People tend to treat people who work in fast food as a means to an end," he said.
"They don't see them as people."
He described the pressure placed on young staff members as extreme, and recalled one incident where a customer who was seeking a cup of water — which Mr Beech wasn't allowed to provide — attempted to assault him.
"Despite my explaining it to him, he wouldn't leave and then tried to take a swing at me," he said.
"That sort of stuff happens a fair bit.
"It wasn't too bad because I knew that my work friends, the other crew who work were friends of mine, they're there to back me up if anything did ever happen.
"But it's still scary to think that something like that could happen in the workplace."
Mr Gregory told 7.30 that McDonald's had strong systems in place to ensure stores across the country were safe working environments