Dessert chain in pay dispute
MAX Brenner Gold Coast staff say they have been mistreated and underpaid by the chocolate giant.
Several past and present employees have come forward since the dessert chain announced it had entered voluntary administration on September 30.
One employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I’m not looking for profit or any compensation for giving you this material, I’m just wanting to shine a light on the disgusting practises enforced at Max Brenner Australia.
“My workmates and I have copped a lot of abuse in the past for the ludicrous 10 per cent surcharge on weekends,” said the staff member of two years.
“Despite this weekend surcharge, staff weren’t – and still aren’t – being paid weekend or night-shift allowances and we would only receive an extra $3 on public holidays.
“I’m missing $1000 of superannuation from my account.
“We’ve been told it’s been paid into our accounts every pay cycle but it hasn’t for the past year. There was a time Max Brenner hadn’t paid their staff for one month and three weeks back in February.”
The woman also said she had witnessed a number of hygiene and behavioural issues within the chain.
“I wouldn’t even use crockery or cutlery because most of the time water in the dishwasher doesn’t get changed for hours due to the high volume of customers coming in and the low number of staff we have.
“I’ve seen staff in tears and (have) anxiety attacks. I’ve had to buy hundreds of dollars’ worth of Woolworths-brand ice cream, whipped cream, strawberries and milk.
“Not only is this embarrassing for me as a supervisor, it looks terrible from a customer perspective.”
On October 1, McGrathNicol were appointed as the administrators and said the owners cited “escalating costs and tighter retail trade” as the reason for closing and that it would be business as usual. However, only days later about 20 stores closed nationwide.
Another Gold Coast employee claims she has not been paid super since 2016, when she received one $100 payment.
MY WORKMATES AND I HAVE COPPED A LOT OF ABUSE FOR THE LUDICROUS 10 PER CENT SURCHARGE ON WEEKENDS. DESPITE THIS, STAFF WEREN’T — AND STILL AREN’T — BEING PAID WEEKEND OR NIGHTSHIFT WAGES AND WE WOULD ONLY RECEIVE AN EXTRA $3 ON PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
“The whole thing has been very poorly handled,” she said of the chocolate giant’s downfall. “One morning I woke up and saw a news article online but our managers told us not to worry. Then 95 per cent of the staff are suddenly gone.
“Then we hear that this has been in the works since September so I don’t know why they couldn’t have given us more of a heads up.”