BehiNd the
HEADLINES
90 Business Franchise Australia and New Zealand
joint employer liability bill resumes
journey through parliament
The Australian Government’s move to create
a joint employer liability on franchisors
has regained momentum after its proposed
Protecting Vulnerable Workers Bill returned
for discussion in Parliament on May 11, after
a Senate inquiry report was lodged just two
days earlier.
During the same week that the government
released its annual Budget, the tabling of the
Senate inquiry report which recommended
relatively minor adjustments to the proposed
Bill went largely unnoticed in the media.
While the report also recommends some
further adjustments by the relevant Minister,
it is unknown just what changes may be
adopted, or when the Bill may be passed and
become law.
The Senate inquiry received a total of 37
submissions, despite only logging nine
as at the official deadline of April 6. The
controversial bill was referred on March 23to the Senate Education and Employment
Legislation Committee, with a tiny window
for stakeholder consultation.
The proposed legislation would make
franchisors liable for outstanding wages owed
to workers in their networks even when those
workers are employed and paid by franchisees.
The bill was inspired by widespread wage
fraud in the 7-Eleven network, which has seen
the privately-owned company so far repay
more than $95 million in outstanding wages
to nearly 2,500 underpaid workers for an
average of more than $38,000 per worker.domino’s becomes first brand to
be issued penalties under new
code
Pizza chain Domino’s has become the first
franchise to be issued with financial penalties
following changes to the Franchising Code of
Conduct which took effect on 1 January 2015.
Domino’s was issued with two infringement
notices worth $9,000 each for failing toprovide franchisees with both an annual
marketing fund financial statement and
auditor’s report within the time limits
prescribed by the Code.
The payment of an infringement notice is
not an acknowledgement of wrongdoing by a
company, however in a statement Domino’s
said the failure to release the statement and
report was an oversight and funds had been
audited and found to be in order.pizza hut appeal heads to court
A class action by former Pizza Hut franchisees
to appeal a previous court ruling which
upheld the franchisor’s decision to lower prices
to compete in a price war with Domino’s has
commenced, according to a media report.
The appeal to the original class action decision
is funded by liquidator Bob Jacobs (acting
for an operator of three Pizza Hut outlets),
along with the Australian Tax Office who are
owed an estimated $1.5 million in taxes by the
former Pizza Hut operator.
The price war court appeal comes after thehot topicS