Essay On Employment Relations Case

Introduction 

The protection of worker’s entitlements and rights is carried out through different legislations, agreements and awards at national and international levels. All small and large organizations are bound to comply with workplace legislations of employment relations, such that all part time and full time workers are offered enhanced protection within organization. The present essay is based on analysis of a case, whereby rights of worker are violated and entitlements of worker are not paid in fair manner. The chose case is of Domino’s which has exploited vulnerable work on foreign visa and trimmed the working hours, for reducing the amount of wage then the deserved wage of worker. The essay has provided detailed background of Domino’s, along with identification of the legislations through which worker might claim his rights in Domino’s. Additionally, it is detailed that how colleagues, union and management might be engaged under different legislations and agreements to state the comprised entitlements of worker of Domino’s. 

Background of Case Organization – Domino’s 

Domino’s Pizza Inc. has been chosen as a case for assessing the extent to which employment relations legislations of Australia are being followed by the company and workers’ entitlements are paid in fair manner. Domino’s is American based multinational pizza chain which is working since 1960 to provide tasty and quality pizzas to customers all across the world. Domino’s is operating in Australia for years and it has large number of stores within country (Park et al., 2012). The investigation of Fair Work Ombudsman has highlighted that only few stores of Domino’s have shown compliance with Fair Work legislations and most of them are bypassing entitlements of workers. For instance, since 2013 to 2018, most of the delivery boys and staff of Domino’s working in store has been underpaid. These evidences clearly identify that Domino’s work place policies are not complied with fair work regulations and thus selection of this organization is well justified in underlying case assessment of employee relations. 

Discussion of Employee Relations Case of Domino’s Pizza

Regardless of detailed regulations of Fair Work regarding entitlements of workers in Australia, it is witnessed that Domino’s has been found engaged in issue of underpayment of workers. Domino’s has historically made changes in enterprise agreements to lower the level of casual work along with increase of part time work in stores (Forsyth & Smart, 2009). The workers mainly hired in Domino’s are 25 and below, with most of them are on foreigners visa, making them most vulnerable workforce. The identified worker (who has been exploited by Domino’s) was of 22 years, on foreigner’s visa and was struggling to meet his expenses within Australia. This evidence shows that worker belonged to vulnerable population which has made it obvious that Domino’s is engaged in exploitation of vulnerable groups of workers. The worker has received less payment as compared to the hours worked. Apart from the claim of foreign worker for being underpaid at Domino’s, it is also considerable that store management Azrael Yin has also took initiative to inform the head office that franchisee has enforced him to keep the labor cost below 27% as compared to total cost of sales (Ferguson & Christodoulou, 2017). The store manager has further mentioned that he used to trim the number of hours worked by the workers, such that total wages can be lowered to keep the cost at lowest side (Ferguson & Christodoulou, 2017). This evidence has noted that worker was exploited and was paid less for the work done by him on daily basis. This is non-compliance with the Fair Work Ombudsmen, which states that working hours of staff should be recorded carefully and they should be paid fairly in accordance with their work (Gollan, 2009). 

It is notable that issue was also reported by the store manager, so it is highly easy to involve the colleagues for reporting of issue to head office of Domino’s. The head office holds enterprise agreements which mention policies for fair and minimum wages of workers. The fair wage policy of Domino’s states that working hours of workers should be recorded fairly and they should be paid for actual number of hours worked in a week (Hardy & Howe, 2013). The non-compliance with these policies by any franchise can be taken as serious offense by the head office and thus license of that franchise can be cancelled. For instance, the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement has been used by Domino’s to ensure that its workers entitlements are paid in fair manner and the act of franchise to exploit foreign worker is showing non-compliance with the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement. This act can be lead to license termination for this franchise. Therefore, it should remain the initial step for worker to report the issue to head office, by seeking assistance of all workers/colleagues in the particular franchise. Yet, it should be noted that Domino’s is found engaged in the infringement of worker’s entitlements, so the worker might not find any justice by reporting to head office and is needed to involve union and Fair Work Ombudsmen personnel. 

The next option for exploited worker of Domino’s is to get engage with Fair Work ombudsman (FWO). FWO is considered as an important statutory agency which is held responsible for creation of well-coordinated and stable workplace relations (Fair Work Ombudsman, 2019). The worker can initially seek the free service of FWO to know about the rights of workers within Australia, such that conditions can be recognized to register complaints of Domino’s franchise (Hardy, Howe & Cooney, 2013). Followed by the submission of complaint, FWO can arrange for mediating discussion between the union and Domino’s management (Fair Work Ombudsman, 2019). The compliance of Domino’s with Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) for protection of workers, assures that it will make up a good mediating party between Domino’s and worker, whose rights are being violated by the company. SDA’s role can be regulated by FWO under Good Faith Bargaining, which demands that SDA shall play neutral role by promoting the right of worker, who has registered complaint. SDA can convince management to back charge worker with the compensation of hours that are being trimmed by store manager on behalf of franchise owner (Stewart, 2011). It is expected that mediation and involvement of union can lead to effective resolution of issue between Domino’s and worker (Stewart & Owens, 2013). However, if the mediation is proved ineffective for resolution of conflict, then FWO will most likely allocate an inspector, who will be empowered under the Fair Work Act to inspect and investigate the wages conditions in specific franchise of Domino’s. The inspector of FWO can then take actions to enforce the compliance of franchise with the Australian workplace regulations, such that any wage related issue can be resolved (Ombudsman, 2015). In this case, the worker will be paid the wages which are being trimmed by the manager and thus it will also be assured that any future non-compliance is avoided by Domino’s. 

Finally, case can be filed against Domino’s in Federal Court, by making link of previous evidences of FWO, whereby it was found that Domino’s is engaged in exploitation of its workers. In this case, Fair Work Commission can considered clauses of Fair Work Act of 2009, with an aim of protecting the rights of worker (Lakhani, Kuruvilla & Avgar, 2013). The evidence can be further strengthened by the views of store manager who has admitted to trim the recorded working hours of staff, with an aim of keeping the cost at lower side. The investigation of court might take some time, yet it is expected that worker can win back the amount which has not been paid on fair basis (Kersley et al., 2013). Likewise, the cost of case can also be back charged from Domino’s to support the work under Fair Work Act 2009. In the case of court proceedings, Domino’s will also be charged fine by Fair Work Commission, for non-compliance with the legislations of Fair Work Act. Conclusively, it can be mentioned that worker’s rights and entitlements are well protected in Australia by FWO and Fair Work Act, which assure that in case of violation of worker’s rights, specific employee can involve different parties to claim his/her rights.  

 Conclusion 

In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that regardless of Fair Work Ombudsman and Fair Work Act 2009 protection for workers of Australia, stull there are many instance of organizations where entitlements of workers are comprised by the management. It is found in essay that Domino’s has violated the rights of worker regarding fair wages and working hours are trimmed by store managed on call of franchise owner. The store manager has also complained about this act to head office. The worker can involve colleague to report the infringement of entitlements to head office in the context of Enterprise Bargaining Agreement. Additionally, the Fair Work Ombudsman legislation is available for reporting the issue, which might help in initiation of mediated discussion with involvement of union, named SDA. Further, the FWO might allocate an inspector for evaluation of the issue, such that back charges can be received from organization. Finally, case can be filed under the Fair Work Act 2009 to get justice.