The Grill'd burger chain has enjoyed spectacular growth but there are serious questions being asked about how it treats its workers and the health standards at its stores.

Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size "SOLDIERS! You can go as extreme as you like should you wish to wear a full soldier camouflage costume and kit," the Grill’d Christmas party memo to staff said. There would be no room for wowsers. Staff were told to wear a black T-shirt, camouflage pants or caps and black boots. They were told dog tags, guns and belts could be purchased "at a very low price on eBay". Simon Crowe, the founder of Grill’d, would stand out from the rest of the crowd, dressed as a British soldier in a red and gold uniform and a big fur hat. It was late November and by 8pm, the chain’s workers were partying hard as Ariana Grande’s Bang Bang pulsated across the dance floor. But this wasn’t a typical Grill’d party. News was spreading that The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald were about to expose questionable practices by the company. This included the treatment of some employees and franchises and, in some stores, poor health and safety compliance as penny-pinching restaurant managers pursued cost targets to secure bonuses. Crowe didn't seem fazed. He posed for photos with a group of female staff dressed up as nurses, chatted to a few employees, then quietly slipped away. The 47-year-old has had his fair share of troubles at the burger chain. In 2015, Grill'd was embroiled in a wage scandal which hit revenue and resulted in the company entering a confidential settlement followed by an enterprise agreement, which was supposed to be better than the previous pay deal. A year later, 5000 current and former workers signed a petition exposing the company’s training program, suggesting it was a form of wage theft. That resulted in promises to have staff complete traineeships within 18 months.


The latest Herald and The Age investigation reveals that worker discontent is again brewing. Workers are gearing up to renegotiate the current enterprise agreement, which has been described as "highly exploitative" by a leading workplace lawyer. That agreement was signed in 2015 and removes penalty rates for weekends, public holidays and work performed after 9pm on weekdays. It restricts overtime payments and provides little room for annual pay rises. As a result, net wages have gone backwards. Employees are also frustrated by government-subsidised Certificate III traineeships in hospitality that many feel they have to do to get a job. The economic benefits to the chain of having workers do traineeships are clear. A school leaver on a traineeship working Saturdays is paid $14.50 an hour, while the maximum an adult trainee at Grill’d can expect is $18.50. A non-trainee adult at Grill’d gets $21.75 an hour, seven days a week. The Fast Food Award, which is supposed to provide the basic safety net for the sector, requires that adults are paid more than $21.41 to $22.70 during the day, and $26.76 to $28.38 an hour if they work Saturdays. For an adult trainee, it is a difference of at least $7.50 an hour. Extrapolated across a workforce of thousands of people over the years, it amounts to millions of dollars. In piecing together a picture of life at the chain’s 137 restaurants, The Herald and The Age spoke to dozens of current and former workers and executives, some of whom were prepared to be identified while others feared damaging their future job prospects.


A trove of public and internal company documents were also analysed, including a year’s worth of payslips and rosters and a survey of 370 workers representing almost 10 per cent of the workforce. The business is thriving on many measures. Most outlets (105) are owned by Grill’d, which turns over about $370 million annually and last year made a profit approaching $45 million before paying interest or tax. Those figures make Crowe worthy of inclusion on the nation’s rich lists. Keeping costs down

Patrick Stevenson, a 23-year-old law student at Monash University, agreed to speak out against the company because he believes Grill'd doesn’t play fair. After almost two years with the company, he still hasn’t finished his traineeship. "[The company's strategy is] all about profit, keeping costs down, like making people do traineeships [which under the Enterprise Agreement allows Grill'd] to pay them less, and other ways to cut corners," he said. Grill'd worker Patrick Stevenson says he had to agree to a traineeship to get a job. Credit:Simon Schluter He said that when he was offered the job at Grill’d he was encouraged to do the traineeship. "I don’t think I would have got it if I didn’t do the traineeship," he said. Stevenson is one of hundreds, possibly thousands, of workers who would prefer to be paid ordinary wages than do a traineeship. "I have had to ask my parents for help paying the bills because the wages are too low," he said.


He hopes by speaking out he will get better conditions for thousands of workers. One worker, who did not want to be identified, said the working conditions, pay and lack of training "felt like exploitation to me’’, while another said working at Grill’d had taught them resilience. "Myself and many other co-workers that have left share the belief that if you can survive Grill’d, you can survive anything." On such a journey, there will also be isolated outlier incidents when things don’t go to plan. Grill'd statement A survey of Grill’d workers, which included a spreadsheet with names, restaurants and shifts, was conducted in August 2018 by Emily Jones and Nicholas Simoes da Silva, who now work at the ASIC, and several Australian National University law professors. It found that 92.4 per cent of Grill’d workers felt the traineeship was a waste of time and had little educational value. Many described it as a "farce" and a "scam". Conducted as part of the Canberra Students for Fair Work, a student-led organisation associated with the law reform and social justice program at the ANU College of Law, the survey found 95 per cent of respondents weren’t given time by their managers to spend 20 per cent of their work hours training for their traineeship.


Grill’d management declined repeated requests for an interview. A series of questions was submitted, which the company declined to answer in full, citing confidentiality. In a statement, it said it was central to its values that "we do our best to make sure that our people, including employees and franchise partners, feel valued and are treated equitably and properly". It said its "traineeship program has provided qualifications and a pathway for thousands of people" and it was not a condition of employment that team members become trainees, although "we encourage our employees to complete the traineeship". "Today, a trainee takes on average 13 months to complete the traineeship and in the last 12 months, over 750 employees have completed their qualifications," the statement said. It said 31 per cent of restaurant workers were currently employed as trainees and that the government subsidies were offset by the "significant investment" made into the curriculum development. It said the net cost to Grill’d of running the traineeship program as it relates to government subsidies has averaged in excess of $450,000 each year over the past three years. Grill’d conceded in the statement that it didn't always get things right. "On such a journey, there will also be isolated outlier incidents when things don’t go to plan, but we have always worked to make it right by our people, our suppliers, our franchise partners and our customers," it said.

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