7-Eleven has dangled a $60 million carrot to its franchisees at the same time as expanding the role of former Grill'd chief executive Braeden Lord to cover the convenience store's franchise operations.

Mr Lord left Grill'd in May this year ahead of the burger chain running into trouble over its 2007 WorkChoice agreement, which was exposed by Fairfax Media in July. He was appointed chief executive of Grill'd in 2013 and joined 7-Eleven in July just before the wage scandal broke in the convenience store giant.

There is strong speculation that Braedon Lord is in line for the top job at 7-Eleven. Credit:Eve Fisher

Speculation is now mounting the former burger boss is a strong contender for the top job at 7-Eleven after former chief executive Warren Wilmot resigned in the wake of the worker exploitation scandal across 7-Eleven's network of 620 stores.

In July, Fairfax Media revealed a worker at the Grill'd store in the well-heeled suburb of Camberwell had been dismissed for complaining about the company's pay agreement that was below award wages and did not include appropriate penalties for certain shifts.