5 Questions
What was the response of McDonald's Australia to the claims of denying employees their 10-minute rest breaks?
McDonald's believes its restaurants complied with applicable instruments, provided rest breaks to employees and were consistent with historic working arrangements.
How many existing Federal Court claims does the SDA have against McDonald's Australia and its franchisees?
15
What was the experience of Isabelle, a McDonald's employee, regarding rest breaks?
Isabelle was not given her entitled 10-minute break, but instead was allowed drink breaks freely during shifts.
How did managers at McDonald's react when employees needed to take a break?
They saw it as you being lazy and not actually doing what you need to do.
Where did the initial compensation claim originate from?
South Australia
Study Notes
Wage Theft Claim Against McDonald's
- The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) is seeking compensation of at least $250 million for alleged denial of paid breaks to over 250,000 current and former McDonald's workers across Australia.
- The claim alleges that workers at over 1,000 current and former McDonald's sites were denied their uninterrupted 10-minute break when working fours hours or more during a shift.
Alleged Denial of Paid Breaks
- Workers were allegedly told that if they want their paid break, they cannot get a drink or go to the toilet.
- Workers had to seek permission to get a drink or go to the bathroom and could be directed to resume work before their 10-minute break was up.
- The SDA claims that workers were misled or not informed about their rest break entitlements.
Investigation and Evidence
- The SDA has heard over 10,000 accounts from former and current employees, including young Australians, at McDonald's stores across Australia.
- The claim names 323 McDonald's operators who allegedly denied paid rest breaks to workers over the past six years.
Response from McDonald's Australia
- McDonald's Australia has denied the claims, stating that its restaurants complied with applicable instruments, provided rest breaks to employees, and were consistent with historic working arrangements.
- McDonald's claims that the manner of taking breaks has not been challenged or raised by the SDA as a matter of concern throughout successive enterprise bargaining processes for new industrial agreements.
Background and Context
- The SDA claims that McDonald's was aware that the union had raised the issue of breaks in the past two rounds of Enterprise Agreement negotiations.
- The new claim is in conjunction with the SDA's 15 existing Federal Court claims against McDonald's Australia and 14 franchisees — seven of them in South Australia.
- The claim originates from South Australia, where 14 McDonald's employees lodged a compensation claim in December 2020 after allegedly being denied their 10-minute rest break.
McDonald's is facing a wage theft claim of at least $250 million in the Federal Court over alleged denial of paid breaks to workers. The claim is being made on behalf of over 250,000 current and former McDonald's workers across Australia.
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