McDonald’s employees are encountering difficulties receiving money owed to them, according to Unite Union.
The fast food giant has started paying out holiday pay owed to tens of thousands of staff, almost five years after agreeing to do so.
In November 2019, Unite Union announced a deal with McDonald’s to reimburse employees for payroll errors dating back 10 years.
McDonald’s was among hundreds of companies affected by payroll systems that incorrectly calculated holiday pay.
This week, the company announced on its website that it had received approval from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to begin remediation.
Current and former staff who worked between 2009 and 2019 are advised to check an online portal for their payment.
At the time of the union deal, Unite said the process would involve as many as 60,000 McDonald’s workers and millions of dollars.
That number is now estimated to be around 80,000. However, Unite Union national secretary John Crocker told Midday Report that McDonald’s said only about half of those employees would actually receive any money.
Crocker expressed disappointment with how McDonald’s is handling the situation.
“They’re taking an ‘unders and overs’ approach, recalculating and deducting any perceived overpayments from what they owe for underpayments,” Crocker said.
He cited instances where employees received messages from McDonald’s stating they were owed money, but would only receive a portion because the company found it had overpaid them in the past.
As a result, Crocker said some employees are not receiving what they are entitled to.
“We urge all current and former McDonald’s employees to contact McDonald’s in writing, withdraw consent to deductions, and demand the full amount of underpayments,” Crocker stated.
Another issue is that employees from franchises that no longer exist are not receiving any money they may be entitled to.
“It’s shocking that former franchisees are allowed to behave this way,” Crocker said.
He believes McDonald’s and the ministry should intervene.
“We are extremely disappointed with the ministry for allowing this to happen,” he added.
McDonald’s has been contacted for comment.