A McDonald’s restaurant on the NSW Mid North Coast is under investigation by SafeWork NSW following reports that staff were ordered to keep working despite being told by fire authorities to “seek shelter”.

Sources told Yahoo News Australia that on Friday, November 8, when multiple suburbs in Port Macquarie came under threat, McDonald’s workers at the highway branch were instructed to keep working.

View photos A screenshot of an AAP video taken on November 8 at Lighthouse Beach in Port Macquarie. Source: AAP More

Staff at the McDonald’s Port Macquarie Highway branch had received geo-located emergency warnings via their mobile phones from the Rural Fire Service on Thursday night and again on Friday afternoon which have been seen by Yahoo News Australia, informing them there were “multiple fires” in the region and they needed to “seek shelter”.

Similar warnings were issued by the fire authority to their official social media pages, showing the impacted areas.

EMERGENCY WARNING: LIndfield PArk Rd, Port Macquarie

The fire has breached containment lines and crossed the Pacific Hwy at Thrumster. If you are in the area of Thrumster and Sovereign Hills, seek shelter as the fire impacts. The Pacific Hwy is closed. #nswrfs #nswfires #alert pic.twitter.com/uhBMpC0c0R — NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) November 8, 2019

However, management at the restaurant instructed staff to remain at the store, despite the adjacent fast-food chains KFC, Subway and Oliver’s Real Food all shutting their doors so staff could evacuate.

The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RFFWU) told Yahoo News Australia workers at the Port Macquarie Highway branch – not to be confused with the Port Macquarie CBD McDonald’s – received the geo-located emergency messages at the restaurant on two separate occasions during the devastating fires. Staff eventually took it upon themselves to leave.

“I was working the day of the fires in Port Macquarie at the highway Maccas and was the first to defend my co-workers and their safety by walking out,” one staff member told Yahoo News Australia.

Authorities are now investigating.

View photos A screenshot of the geo-located emergency warnings sent to a McDonald's Port Macquarie Highway employee. Source: Supplied More

“The workers on [November 8] received geo-located messages to seek shelter as the fire arrived but management directed staff to stay at work as their view was that the fire risk was not significant,” RFFWU secretary Josh Cullinan said.

“The KFC was shut. Workers ended up walking out of McDonald’s”.

A similar incident allegedly took place three days later on the Monday.

“On Monday [November 11] workers were getting reports their homes and families were under fire threat and wanted to leave. Workers weren’t told they could leave and eventually they walked out,” Mr Cullinan said.

View photos A burnt paddock in Port Macquarie on November 11 after fires ripped through the region. Source: Getty Images More

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