McDonald's denies dumping workers who turn 18

McDonald's is dumping fast food workers as soon as they turn 18 so they can employ younger teenagers and pay them less, one of the company's employees told a parliamentary committee yesterday.

But the company responded it had no such policy and said it wanted to keep on older teenagers as they become more skilled and productive.

Nineteen-year-old Joshua Briggs appeared before the transport and industrial relations select committee, which is considering a bill to abolish the youth minimum wage and replace it with the standard minimum wage.

Mr Briggs, appearing for the New Zealand Association for Adolescent Health and Development, said McDonald's aimed to recruit younger workers and shed older ones.

"There have been cases at our work where people have not given a letter of resignation in themselves but been pushed aside and said '[we] think you should leave now'."

There were problems in fighting such issues, he said.

"Lots of youths don't belong to unions as well because it's too expensive and they can't afford it."

The association's national executive officer, Sarah Helm, told the committee there were issues in fighting such job losses.

"The problem is a lot of 18-year-olds don't have access to lawyers and media attention and all those sort of things."

She said employers "casualised" the workforce as a method of getting lower paid workers on shifts.

"People don't get rostered on."

But McDonald's human resources director Evelyn Gates denied the company had tried to get rid of older workers because they were more expensive.

"It's absolutely completely untrue. We do not do this. It's not a policy, it's not a practice, nor have we had a complaint from anybody - parent, restaurant, staff member, union."

Ms Gates said McDonald's was proud to employ young workers and she was "baffled and flabbergasted" as to where the allegation had come from.

She said the company did pay youth rates - an "under-18 training rate" - but they had a "premium" over the youth minimum wage.

Ms Gates denied it only took two or three weeks to learn to be a McDonald's staff member.

Green MP Sue Bradford's Minimum Wage (Abolition of Age Discrimination) Amendment Bill, aims to abolish the minimum wage applying to 16- and 17-year-olds.

- NZPA