Employment relations A1 PDF

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Introduction This essay will be assessing (from the perspective of an employee) the actions of the 7-eleven franchise regarding the significant underpayment of wages and falsification of employment records that were occurring across much of the franchisee network of Australia’s leading convenience retailer, 7-Eleven Australia Pty Ltd (7-Eleven) [ACN 005 299 427]. 7-Eleven is the largest petrol and convenience retailer in Australia, based on market share, and has won several franchising awards. It operates under licence from the US-based business 7-Eleven Inc., developing and franchising 7-Eleven stores in Australia. 7-Eleven Inc., first founded in 1927, it has become the world’s largest operator, franchisor and licensor of convenience stores. In June of 2014 it was uncovered that the retailer, 7-Eleven was being accused of serious misconduct in their treatment of employees, concerning widespread underpayment and other violation against employees rights and entitlements. This lead to the discovery that concerns with the compliance attitude of some 7Eleven stores date as far back as 2008. Onwards from 2008, there were routine reports from employees testifying to severe underpayment of wages. Of notable alarm was the glaring evidence of underpayments linked to doctored records. particularly, employers decreasing the number of hours documented as worked by employees to show them being paid larger rates of pay than they were paid in actuality. An inquiry was performed by Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) and to uncover the truth regarding the allegations. This was done through coordinated site inspections, and resulting record analysis, of a sample of 20 7-Eleven stores. The inquiry also initiated many comprehensive investigations of 7-Eleven stores that were the subject of requests for help from employees. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s (FWO) inquiry into the aforementioned allegations of underpayment of wages, falsification of employment records found many infractions against employee entitlement committed by the convenience retailer, 7-Eleven. Employee entitlements are the outlined laws that dictate the rights of an employee regarding the hours employees can work, their allocated breaks, any form of leave that an employee is entitled to etc. Theses entitlements can be outlined in varying places such as an award, registered agreement or an employment contract (Dispute Resolution Journal, 2011). This essay will analyse the actions of the convenience retailer 7-Eleven through employment relations is contains. Employment relations is the examination of the internal mechanics of the relationship, that focuses on the rules that influence the relationship and their creation. Therefore, employment relations involved any person whose income is derived through work or who is affiliated with an organisation or employee management. (Bray 2018). This essay will further critically discuss the actions that employees could have (or did) take in order to combat the infringement on their entitlements (For example collective bargaining: collective bargaining is the unified collective of employees (often through a consolidated third party organisation) deciding to mediate with one or potentially a group of employers on the behalf of the unified collective Bray (2018)) and critically discusses the involvement of colleagues, the union and management relative to the case study

Discuss Given the long term widespread nature of the exploitation of employees by the 7-Eleven franchise, it is unusual to consider that until 2014 when a whistleblower at the 7-Eleven head office went public about the misconduct, that is was relatively unknown. Many speculations as to why employees had not exercised their rights earlier and sought help from unions or Fair Work Australia. The main reason for this is the selective employment that many 7-Eleven franchises used. Not selective in the sense of employment opportunity which is the selection of a candidate based solely on their merit of skill, impartial to factors scubas race, gender, age etc. (Bray 2018), but of the hiring of vulnerable workers. Temporary migrants form relatively 11% of the Australian workforce and are consistently underpaid across a variety of industries. The most defenceless of these workers (including international students) are rarely successfully recover unpaid wages and entitlements. Therefore, these employees are often unable to seek help (or choose not to ) from other colleagues, the union and management as they feel they are disadvantaged (Maury, 2017). Many employees state that they had approached 7-Eleven with concerns, generally before the commencement of the inquiry. Commonly they reported being advised by 7-Eleven personnel to take up their issue with the relevant franchisee or raise their concerns with the FWO. Many felt that there was disinterest in their cases, or and of more prominent concern, awareness of the high levels of non-compliance throughout the company which was deliberately ignored, as it was to their benefit that stores appear profitable. Given that the chain of management (both within the individual franchised stores and the company at large) was unhelpful and more often aiding with the exploration of employees, it was unhelpful and unwise (many felt they could lose their job if the came forward) to raise their complaints and seek assistance from higher management (Hamann & Bertels 2018). The fact that most employees where in the same situation could have been used to form a collective, in a bid to force employers to raise their wages. However, given the individual reasoning mentioned above that prevented employees from coming forward, it was/is unlikely that any form of collective bargaining without a third party would be possible. That is where the Union enters, In practice, the purpose of a labour union is to affiliate employees under one banner and to perform as a collective bargaining entity, representing employees whenever they negotiate a new contract with management. When used in this way, a labour union can be very effective in upgrading conditions for employees. A labour union can negotiate for such things as increased wages, better working conditions, better work hours, and worker safety. As an employee that is knowingly being exploited (bear in mind many migrant workers and international student are unaware of their rights in Australia) a Union is a very powerful body that could aid employees in bettering their working conditions and could force a large company like 7-Eleven to adhere to the General Retail Industry Award, that sets out what employees are entitled to (Perrett et al. 2012). In a similar fashion, employees could seek help from Fair Work Australia, whose functions are outlined by the Fair Work Act 2009 and seek to: “Provide education, assistance, advice and guidance to employers, employees, out workers, outworking entities and organisations, Inquire into and investigate breaches of the Fair Work Act, Take appropriate enforcement action” (The Fair Work Act 2009) etc.

Summary Australian workplace laws foist responsibility for employee entitlements on employers. In the case of this specific inquiry, this connotes the 7-Eleven franchisees. Individuals outside the employment relationship, such as a franchisor, have no direct legal responsibility concerning other businesses’ employees. The inquiry held into 7-Eleven has demonstrated that 7-Eleven exercised influence and a high degree of control over its franchisees in many aspects of its operations. 7-Eleven had a reasonable basis on which to inquire and to act and yet, they did not. As an employee, working within the confines of such a company the employment relations that should be a positive thing, become an oppressive operation. A company's endeavour to manage the relationships amid employers and employees has far-reaching consequences in a franchised company such as 7Eleven. An organisation with a favourable employee relations system provides fair and consistent treatment to all employees so they will be committed to their jobs and loyal to the company (Sridhar & Nayak 2013). The actions that an employee in the situation such as working (and being exploited) for a 7-Eleven franchise should take are varied, discussing their treatment with other staff to first asses whether this is an isolated incident is often a solid foundation, however, often given the circumstances the involvement of a third party is necessary. Given that widespread worker exploitation is likely ignored by the higher chain of command (as it is a noticeable thing that many companies, including 7-Eleven, turn a ‘blind eye to’) the involvement of a Union of Fair Work Australia is often the most applicable solution for employees. In conclusion, there are many options available to an employee to navigate a situation where employee entitlements are compromised and although 7-Eleven is not legally responsible for entitlements payable to employees of their franchisees, it has a moral and ethical responsibility for what has occurred within its organisations and is capable of preventing it occurring again.

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