Fast-food giant tells a Senate inquiry the company ‘haven’t paid penalty rates in a very long time’ due to an agreement offering a higher base rate of payWorkers at fast-food giant KFC haven’t been paid penalty rates for years but are no worse off due to an agreement offering a higher base rate of pay, the company argues. “It’s impossible for a KFC worker who works nights and weekends to not be worse off, as there are no penalty rates,” he said. The South Australian senator is part of the education and employment references committee examining proposed changes to penalty rates amid union fears workers will be left out of pocket. “We haven’t paid penalty rates in a very long time … coming up to about eight years we haven’t paid Sunday penalty rates,” he said. The inquiry aims to find out if large companies benefit by employing workers on an enterprise agreement that has lower penalty rates on weekends and public holidays than those set by the standard award.

Source: The Guardian August 24, 2017 07:52 UTC