MANTLE GROUP ACCUSED OF MORE STAFF MISTREATMENT

Godfrey Mantle’s hospitality group is back in the headlines over treatment of staff – accused of leveraging hundreds of casuals into a new agreement avoiding penalty rates.

The Mantle Group operates pubs in Brisbane and Sydney, such as the Pig N Whistle pub chain, James Squire brew house, and Squire’s Landing on Sydney Harbour, and restaurants Jimmy’s On the Mall, in the Brisbane CBD.

The Group had maintained a ‘zombie’ agreement for two decades that denied employees full penalty rates, which was challenged and dismissed, taking effect this month.

A scathing expose by the Australian Financial Review has now accused the pub group of dismissing all casual employees – only to rehire them through a different entity, under a new agreement.

The article states that this week hundreds of casuals across 15 venues were handed termination notices, but rehired by KGS Staff Pty Ltd.

KGS operates with an enterprise agreement put in place in 2019 for eight staff at Mantle’s Vietnamese restaurant Phuc Deli-Viet. It does not pay workers weekend penalty rates, but while it does pay public holiday rates at 225 per cent, a default clause outlines employees agreeing to “swap” work on public holidays for other days.

There is also a confidentiality clause requiring staff to keep the details secret. The legality of this has already been called into question, after the Albanese government passed its anti-pay secrecy laws last year, adding provisions to the Fair Work Act giving employees the right to disclose or not disclose information about their employment.

Backed by the United Workers Union, employees challenged the zombie agreement in 2022. Its termination led to staff shuffled into another agreement, containing a controversial clause where they “voluntarily” waived away all penalty rates.

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) branded the process a “disgrace” and a full bench of the Commission quashed it in January, reinstating penalty rates for staff and giving them the option of backpay. The pub group has stated its intention to challenge the ruling “on the basis of bias”.

A few days after the decision, staff were rehired under KGS. Its workplace contract originally paid more than the award, but the lack of increases in recent years has seen the base rates fall below the award. The new arrangement for the group’s casuals does not request employees to work public holidays – instead stipulating employees “swap all designated public holidays to a date which may be designated by KGS from time to time”.

Mantle agreements have previously been challenged on behalf of United Workers Union by law firm Maurice Blackburn, which says the arrangement appears to leave staff worse than the award.

A spokesperson for Mantle Group denied this, stating the rate was only the minimum and that staff were paid significantly above award base rates.

The Group also denies sacking its casual staff, arguing that by law casual employment “ceases at the end of each shift” and that the staff were simply offered their next shifts with the different company.

It was said that accepting employment with KGS is a matter of choice for each employee, as was swapping public holidays, which is allowed under the award, and the offer of employment does not force employees to do so. These points were said to have been explained to staff in briefings.

But speaking anonymously to the AFR, under fear of termination, staff denied there were briefings about the offer and changes, and received the “cessation of employment” notices without warning.

They reported they are paid the award base rate with 25 per cent casual loading, but no penalty rates.

Despite the assumed protections of the new laws on disclosure, staff are obliged to not disclose information on the employment agreement – except where “required by law”. Mantle’s spokesperson explained that this does not conflict with Labor’s new rules around employment secrecy clauses as it permitted disclosure within the law.