DOMINO’S is once again in hot water over its treatment of young employees after a delivery driver was forced to resign for sharing a link on Facebook.

The 18-year-old driver, who did not wish to use his name, signed and shared a Change.org petition calling for better pay for Domino’s drivers.

His regional manager, alerted to the post by a mutual friend, then shared the link to her own Facebook page, tagging the young driver.

“What’s the go, mate?” she wrote, going on to single out another employee who had also signed the petition.

“Nah I’m not too fussed,” the second driver replied. “I knew it wasn’t gonna do anything anyways.” The 18-year-old wrote: “Wait, this is a joke right?”

He deleted the post, but fearing he would be sacked, emailed the regional manager to offer his resignation. He also complained about being singled out and publicly shamed.

“In regards to your concern, I hope you can use the way you feel to empathise with me,” the manager wrote in reply, adding his post was “in breach of the Domino’s Social Media Policy which is grounds for termination”.

“[The] way you claim to be treated is exactly how I feel when not one but a group of my staff members do not show me the respect and appreciation I deserve when I go above and beyond to ensure I create a fun and professional workplace which follows the laws and policies outlined by Domino’s and Fair Work.

“Your Facebook post was shared as a public post and sent to me by a mutual friend, if you prefer people not to see it then maybe you shouldn’t post to the public.”

Maurice Blackburn principal Josh Bornstein, a leading employment and workplace relations lawyer, said the driver could take action under the Fair Work Act on the basis he had been subject to “unlawful discrimination based on expression of political opinion”.

Mr Bornstein, who is representing former SBS soccer presenter Scott McIntyre in his unfair dismissal case over controversial Anzac Day tweets, said the driver had a number of protections under the Fair Work Act.

“An employee has a right to make a complaint about their pay to their employer and under the Fair Work Act is protected from retaliation in the form of a demotion, a pay cut or losing their job,” he said.

“Secondly, employees have a right to participate in political debate and democracy, and Change.org petitions are a very common method by which people participate in political issues and seek political change.”

The petition, which calls on Workplace Relations Minister Michaelia Cash to “stop Domino’s paying delivery drivers below the minimum wage”, was created by Thorneside father Keith Wade.

“My 19-year-old son is paid $14.51 per hour for two hours per day, plus $2.27 per delivery,” he wrote. “He has to pay the cost of running his vehicle out of this $2.27. So per shift he is paid after expenses about $30.

“If he was paid the minimum wage he would work three hours at a payrate of $18.98 plus 41 cents per km for vehicle use. So he would earn after car running costs about $60.”

Mr Bornstein said while a breach of an employer’s social media policy could be grounds for termination, if a policy was “too extreme or is applied capriciously or unfairly, then a person may have ground to sue for unfair dismissal”.

“These issues can be very contentious. Scott McInytre expressed strong and controversial views about Anzac Day on Twitter and was sacked by SBS the following day. We will be arguing he was sacked for expressing his political opinion, in breach of the Fair Work Act.”

The extent to which employers can control employees after-hours or online conduct is an “ongoing contentious issue in workplaces and in the law”, he said.

“In my view the pendulum has swung too far and employers are seeking to control employees in ways that are undesirable and unfair.”

Asked whether simply sharing a petition on Facebook would constitute a breach of Domino’s social media policy, a company spokeswoman said: “No, that wouldn’t be considered a breach of the policy.”

She said the company was “working through the allegations”. “[Domino’s] is investigating this matter to ascertain exactly what transpired,” she said.

“We have also made an attempt to reach the staff member in question and will speak with them today. Our records indicate the employee tendered their resignation citing that they were moving out of the area as the reason for leaving.

“If we feel confident the manager didn’t take the appropriate action we will work with the franchisee of that store to offer the employee their job back and take the relevant action with the store manager.”

In 2013, Domino’s was ordered to return almost $590,000 in back pay after the Fair Work Ombudsman found the pizza chain had underpaid delivery drivers. The audit found between January 2010 and December 2011, 1628 drivers had been underpaid a total of $588,160.

Last year, news.com.au revealed Domino’s had potentially broken child employment laws in a bid to strongarm underage employees into accepting a pay cut under new contracts or face losing work.

frank.chung@news.com.au