A new wage deal struck by Domino's Pizza and the shoppies union will see part-time employees trade regular working hours for a 2¢ an hour pay rise, in a move a rival union says will "casualise" permanent work conditions.
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The pizza shop and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) announced the deal on December 28, after the workplace tribunal in November tore up previous agreements that saw workers miss out on penalty rates worth tens of millions of dollars a year.
Domino's said the new enterprise bargaining agreement would deliver among the highest wages in the fast food industry for its more than 20,000 workers, but would not disclose pay rates and other details.
A copy of the proposed agreement has now been obtained by Fairfax Media, and shows that entry level workers will be paid a base rate of $20.10 per hour - 2¢ more than the basic wages safety net.
In exchange, part-time employees will give up fixed start and finish times on their regular days of work. They will instead learn what hours they will work on a weekly roster released up to five days notice.
Josh Cullinan, secretary of the rival Retail and Fast Food Workers Union, said this change amounted to the "casualisation" of part-time workers, and would give Domino's the same flexibility as it has with casual workers, while paying them the lower wages of a permanent employee.
Some of the union's members have been told they would be asked to transfer from casual to part-time employment in the coming weeks, Mr Cullinan said.
“Part-time workers under the award would know the actually start and finish times and they can’t be changed," Mr Cullinan said.
But under the new agreement, "someone working a Tuesday night usually could have their hours put on during the day at lunch time, they could have a late night shift, a dinner shift".
Mr Cullinan said the change would mean part-time workers would have to juggle child care and other arrangements every week because their roster might change.
A Domino's spokesman said the deal was better for part-time workers than the award because it mandated a minimum of two three-hour shifts a week, compared to a minimum of 3 hours a month.
"This benefit more than offsets potential variations in rostered start and finish times during agreed days of availability," the spokesman said.
Part time workers receive annual leave, sick leave and other entitlements which casual workers do not.
Workers were given copies of the agreement on Tuesday and will vote on whether to approve it from January 9. But Mr Cullinan said that even if it is voted up, be doubted the EBA would get the Fair Work Commission's approval.
The RFFWU will also seek orders against Domino’s on Monday to delay the ballot for failing to negotiate with it in good faith, he said.
In November the workplace tribunal tore up previous wage deals struck between Domino's and the SDA which saw workers miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars in extra wages over the past decade.
The decision means workers are set to fall under the award conditions - the basic wages safety net - on January 24 unless the new pay agreement is approved.
Under the proposed new deal, casual employees will be paid a 25 per cent loading for ordinary worker hours, and a 50 per cent loading on Saturdays, which is in line with the award penalty.
Full time and part time workers will be paid a 25 per cent Saturday loading, while Sunday rates will fall in line with the Fair Work Commission's decision of last year to phase the penalty rates down from 50 per cent to 25 per cent over the next three years.
The SDA did not return calls on Friday, but when announcing the Domino's agreement its national secretary Gerard Dwyer said it contained a number of wins for workers, including above-award wages, a full penalty rate structure and improved conditions.
In 2016, Fairfax Media revealed that Domino's workers were missing out on penalty rates worth at least $32 million a year because of an old deal struck between the fast food giant and the SDA.
A separate Fairfax Media investigation revealed rampant wage fraud and underpayment within the company's franchise network, with many employees being paid as little as $10 an hour.
