Key Influences

Question 1

Stakeholder - Employers

Answer 1

The individual/organisation that pays others to work for its business

Take responsibility for ensuring businesses have appropriate staff to achieve goals

McDonald’s employs 8% of all restaurant/cafe workers in Australia and spends $AU1.5 billion annually on wages

Question 2

Stakeholder - Employees

Answer 2

An individual who provides their skills to a business in return for income

Motivated by monetary gain and non-monetary benefits

McDonald’s has 109,000 employees in Australia, with 65% of crew being either secondary, TAFE or university students

Company policy restricts working hours for employees who are still in school

Question 3

Stakeholder - Employer Associations

Answer 3

Aim to promote the interests of employers within the business environment

Business Council of Australia consults with governments on changes to labour policy

McDonald’s is a member of the Franchise Council of Australia

It is also a member of the Australian Industry Group, which promotes member’s views to “government, regulatory agencies, the media and the community”

AIG represented McDonald’s at the FWC to have some award conditions varied during the COVID-19 pandemic

Question 4

Stakeholder - Unions

Answer 4

Aim to protect and promote the interests of employees within a workplace

Assist employees with workplace disputes, bargaining agents in wage negotiations

Approximately 20% of Australians are members of a union

8,000 McDonald’s employees belong to the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) - however the Retail & Fast Food Workers’ Union claim that the SDA have “teamed up to make dodgy backroom deals which smash worker rights”

Question 5

Stakeholder - Government Organisations

Answer 5

Establish the legal framework in which all stakeholders co-exist

Fair Work Commission establishes minimum wage and arbitrates industrial disputes

Federal Court acts as an avenue of appeal from the FWC

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Government implemented the JobKeeper package, which enabled businesses who experienced a 30% or greater decrease in revenue to access $750 per week for eligible employees

Some franchisees were able to access this payment, dramatically cutting labour costs

SafeWork NSW mandates that all tasks are carried out in a safe manner

Question 6

Stakeholder - Society

Answer 6

Workplace practices should reflect behaviours upheld in society

During the COVID-19 pandemic, McDonald’s employees wore PPE equipment

Question 7

What are the duties of an employer & employee under an employment contract?

Answer 7

This establishes the duties of an employer, such as:
duty of care (safe and healthy workplace)
duty to pay the agreed wage
duty to provide work (or provide adequate financial compensation)

The duties of employees include:
duty to obey lawful instructions and demands
duty to work with skill
duty to disclose relevant information

Question 8

What is the difference between an award and an enterprise agreement?

Answer 8

Award - a legal document that specifies the minimum working conditions that apply to all people employed in a common industry

Enterprise Agreement - a wage agreement negotiated between an employer and all its employees

Question 9

What is the relationship between McDonald’s and enterprise awards?

Answer 9

For many years, employees at McDonald’s worked under the McDonald’s Australia Enterprise Agreement 2013

In December 2019, employee Xzavier Kelly and the Retail & Fast-Food Workers’ Union took their case to the FWC, claiming that McDonald’s workers would be ‘Better Off Overall’ under the Fast Food Industry Award

The FWC ruled in their favour, and all employees of McDonald’s had to be employed under that award

Question 10

What are the four types of employment contracts?

Answer 10

Part Time - an employee works a fixed set of hours per week, but less than 35

Permanent - a person who works between 35-40 hours per week

Casual - employed by a business for short periods of time

Fixed Term - used by businesses that only require labour for a specific period of time

Question 11

What is the current legislation relating to WHS?

Answer 11

Work Health & Safety Act 2011 (NSW) - establishes the rights and responsibilities in regard to safety in the workplace

Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) - governs the process of employees gaining financial compensation for injuries sustained at work

Question 12

McDonald’s relationship with workplace health & safety

Answer 12

McDonald’s Australia’s main measurement of workplace injuries is known as the Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate
This calculates the number of hours lost to injury per 1 million hours worked
Its goal is to have less than 8.5 hours lost per million hours worked

In 2013 a McDonald’s Australia employee was injured by a falling stack of boxes
The District Court awarded him damages of AU$327,000, which included a claim for the lost earnings the employee would suffer as a result of the accident

Question 13

McDonald’s relationship with discrimination in the workplace

Answer 13

McDonald’s Australia has a partnership with Job Centre Australia and Golden Opportunities, which aims to place job seekers with a disability into employment with McDonald’s - by early 2020, over 750 such jobs had been filled

More than 70% of US McDonald’s workers are either women or minorities

In 2020, an international coalition of trade unions filed a complaint with the OECD alleging systematic sexual harassment of McDonald’s employees around the globe

Question 14

What are the economic influences on HR, and how do they impact McDonald’s?

Answer 14

High employment will generally result in increased consumer spending and growth

During periods of wage negotiations, employees will seek higher wages from employers to compensate for inflation

Employment in sectors such as manufacturing has been severely affected by globalisation and the availability of cheap labour overseas

The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of 25% of stores worldwide, reduced sales by 13% in the first six months and resulted in reduced working hours for many employees

On May 5, 2020, the ABS said: “The Accommodation and food services industry continued to be the most impacted by COVID-19, with a drop of around one in three paid jobs in the industry from mid-March to mid-April”

Question 15

What are the positive impacts of technology on human resources?

Answer 15

Allows employees to work more efficiently

Employees can develop new skills

All McDonald’s employees use Metime (an online platform used for rostering, pay & training) allowing for effective communication

Question 16

What are the negative impacts of technology on human resources?

Answer 16

Loss of employment as technology becomes primary to production

Employee resistance to change

Lower levels of employee empowerment

The rollout of self-service kiosks reduces employee requirements

Former CEO Ed Rensi stated that “union demands for a much higher minimum wage would force businesses with small profit margins to replace full-service employees with costly investments in self-service alternatives”

Question 17

What are social influences on human resources, and how have they impacted McDonald’s?

Answer 17

Modern Australian workplaces are characterised by greater diversity

Women account for a greater proportion of the workforce than ever before, but are still underrepresented in management

The ‘gig economy’ has seen a growth in casual employment

Inequality of opportunity is increasing in Australia, impacting who is employed

62% of all McDonald’s in Australia are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (pre-COVID), recognising the changing nature of society’s work and leisure patterns

McDonald’s has a work from home policy in place, allowing greater flexibility of when and how work is completed

It offers 18 weeks of paid parental leave for company employees, discounted child-care for employees returning to work and designated breastfeeding rooms

Question 18

How does McDonald’s recognise ethics and social responsibility in human resources?

Answer 18

Good corporate citizenship considers stakeholders other than shareholders

Positive CSR can improve an employee’s view of their business

McDonald’s Australia has a Responsible Student Employment Policy which ensures that “young full time students will work no more than two shifts per week during term time, and in the case of students 17 years or younger they will not work beyond 11pm or before 5am on a school day”

McDonald’s also has a supplier Code of Conduct which states that all suppliers (worldwide) - irrespective of local law - must not employ anyone younger than 14

During the COVID-19 pandemic, McDonald’s executives took pay cuts of up to 50%, while in May 2020, all employees in McDonald’s US received a 10% wage increase