The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) has launched a federal court action against McDonald's Australia, seeking up to $250 million in compensation for allegedly unpaid wages. The union claims the fast-food giant deliberately denied workers their legal entitlement to paid rest breaks, a practice it says affected thousands of current and former employees.
According to the statement of claim, McDonald's allegedly told workers they could exchange their paid breaks for free soft drinks or take 'mini breaks' of roughly one minute for toilet or water, which would be added up to equal 10 minutes. The SDA argues this contravenes the Fast Food Industry Award and previous enterprise agreements that required paid 10-minute breaks for shifts over four hours since 2010.
This is the 16th federal court action against McDonald's by the SDA, with documents lodged against the company and 232 operators. If successful, it could become one of the largest cases of its kind in Australian history, representing about 1.8% of working Australians. The union has cited hundreds of alleged examples and expects thousands of young workers to act as witnesses.
McDonald's Australia has said it intends to defend the claim, stating it believes its restaurants complied with applicable instruments and that the manner of taking breaks has not been challenged by the SDA in previous bargaining processes. SDA South Australian branch secretary Josh Peak called the company's response 'incredibly disappointing' and claimed the union had raised concerns about paid breaks for over two years.
The union aims not only to secure compensation but also to ensure McDonald's is fined for breaching the Fair Work Act and to improve young workers' understanding of their workplace entitlements.
