At least 100 Australian franchisees at the scandal-ridden 7-Eleven convenience store giant have signed up for legal action against head office as the deadline looms to sign a new profit-sharing agreement.
Franchisees have until 5pm on Monday to sign up to the deal, which includes changes to the profit split between head office and franchisees. Those who sign up will have the deal backdated to September 1.
A letter obtained by Fairfax Media reveals 7-Eleven has sweetened the deal with an offer to pay for the first AUD25 million (USD18.3m) of back-pay claims brought by current and former workers. Franchisees would then pay the next AUD5 million and any payments after that would be split 50-50 between head office and franchisees.
There are thousands of workers, past and present, who suffered wage exploitation at 7-Eleven, with some estimating the wage fraud bill could be as high as AUD300 million if enough staff come forward.
(Source: The Sydney Morning Herald Online )