When Nichole McLaughlin asks her partner Paul Joyner what time he will be home from work, he often cannot answer.
With
no finish time on his roster, Mr Joyner - a permanent part-time worker,
not a casual - does not know what time he will leave work at Aldi's
Stapylton distribution centre.
Paul Joyner said Aldi's work arrangements causes disruption to
family life: "The school pick-up time would be the hardest thing."
The father-of-three also said he had worked for free for the
retail giant to pay off "negative hours" accumulated because he was not
given enough shifts to complete the hours he is contracted to work.
"I was at minus-78, and now I work extra to pay back those hours," Mr Joyner said. "And I don't get paid."
His claim is "categorically rejected" by Aldi, which said in a
statement: "The enterprise agreement provides for an averaging
arrangement of hours and employees receive payment for every hour
worked."
Mr
Joyner, who used to coach his son's soccer team, said the uncertainty
caused disruption to his family life. He said it also made it difficult
to make commitments such as taking his children to sporting events and
leisure activities.
"The school pick-up time would be the hardest thing," Mr Joyner said.
"We get it drummed into us 'You don't have a finish time'."
This
lack of certainty created other worries for workers with children, he
said. "Childcare's until 6 o'clock and then you start paying $2 every
minute. So 10 minutes – there's 20 bucks. You do that a couple of times a
week and it soon adds up."
Aldi is celebrating its one year anniversary this year.
Tim Gunstone, an organiser for the National Union of
Workers, said Aldi's "peculiar employment arrangements" were stressful
for workers.
"Workers are sent home early when it suits Aldi, but
when the work is busier, or poorly planned by management, workers are
told they have to stay at work until everything is finished," Mr
Gunstone said.
"The lack of any finish time on rosters makes it impossible for workers to refuse the overtime they are being required to do."
Mr
Gunstone said the NUW believed Aldi's employment practices were against
the law because permanent part-time workers should be provided with the
hours described in their employment contract in each pay period.
When a worker is required to work without pay to work off "negative hours" this is in effect wage theft.
Tim Gunstone, an organiser for the National Union of Workers.
"The second is that Aldi are requiring employees to work without
payment when they are "paying off" the negative hours," he said. "The
third is that permanent workers must be provided with a start and a
finish time for their rostered shifts."
Mr Gunstone added: "When a worker is required to work without pay to work off "negative hours" this is in effect wage theft."
However, an Aldi spokeswoman said: "The suggestion that employees work unpaid overtime is categorically rejected."
She said workers received payment for their "contract hours" even if they do not work the required amount of time.
"They
are then rostered to work additional hours above their contract in
subsequent fortnights, to complete the hours for which they have already
been paid," she said. "The Fair Work Commission has examined and
approved this work arrangement as being lawful and suitable."
But
the NUW is vowing to renew the fight and lodge a dispute with the Fair
Work Commission if Mr Joyner's concerns cannot be resolved with Aldi.
"We
would expect that such a dispute would be resolved by arbitration, and
expect that a Commissioner would find that Paul was owed money for every
hour he worked without payment while 'paying off negative hours',"
Mr Gunstone said. "This could create a substantial underpayment
affecting thousands of Aldi workers."
Associate Professor Angela
Knox, from the University of Sydney Business School, questioned whether
the arrangement was "good practice"
.
"There is a difference between a practice being legal and it being good, especially for workers," she said.
"This
type of practice has been used in large chain hotels for over a decade
but there are more 'checks and balances' in place, normally."
But Associate Professor Knox said caps were usually imposed to prevent workers accruing a debt as large as 78 hours.
She questioned
whether Aldi's workers understood the ramifications of the provision,
which created large "negative hours" balances.
"The specific
details that would explain how the system operates are not outlined,
hence managerial prerogative is maximised," she said.
Aldi's
spokeswoman said salaries were above market rates, while staff turnover
was low: "Our working conditions are also considered to be some of the
best in the industry, with independent employee satisfaction surveys
returning consistently high scores."
Mr Gunstone said he had
spoken to more than 100 Aldi workers who had concerns about the
company's practices but "they felt they had no choice but to accept it".
He said Aldi also tried to prevent its workers engaging with the union - a claim contested by the company.
"Aldi
routinely place managers in lunchrooms when union organisers visit
sites – for the explicit purpose of monitoring the unions engagements
with workers," he said. "At Paul's workplace managers have repeatedly
interrupted organiser conversations with employees."
Mr Joyner,
who is a union delegate, said many of his colleagues shared his concerns
about Aldi's work practices but feared the consequences of speaking
out.
"They'd like to say stuff too but they're scared," he said.
With the impending arrival of retailers such as
Amazon, Mr Gunstone said the conditions for warehouse workers were at risk.
"Aldi's
work practices are one example of the ways in which these jobs are
increasingly becoming insecure, and how many major retailers are
increasingly involved in a race to the bottom when it comes to job
security and casualisation," he said.
"Amazon – which is setting up in Australia – are known for their low wages and anti-union attitude."
Larissa
Andelman, a barrister who practices in industrial law, said the
Australian labour market had a very high level of casualisation, and the
line between casual and permanent employment was often blurred.
"However
the rise of 'zero hour' contracts in England has caused a significant
financial hardship to those affected and there has been political and
legal action to limit and cease these kind of arrangements," she said.
"It
would be most unfortunate if these kind of arrangements were found
lawful in Australia as they impact adversely on the most low paid and
marginalised workers who are often young people and women."
