Toowoomba McDonald’s disability employment program graduate Zach Allen set to become franchise’s first manager

Toowoomba’s Zach Allen has defied odds and expectations for much of his life, and now he has chance to be promoted within one of the world’s biggest fast food companies. Read his story here:

Zach Allen was supposed to only be able to work eight hours a week due to his condition — now he’s getting ready to become a manager at a fast food giant.

The 22-year-old is one of the most successful graduates of the disability employment program (DEP) started by the McDonald’s Toowoomba Region franchise.

The initiative, which earned Maccas the prize for Outstanding Employer at this year’s Toowoomba Business disABILITY Awards, has given significant work opportunities to more than 50 people.

Mr Allen, who has a condition called conversion disorder that developed as a result of trauma, will be the program’s first manager when he completes his training in a few weeks.

It’s a remarkable achievement considering the Australian Government believed he only had the ability to work limited hours.

McDonald's East Toowoomba assistant manager Zach Allen, who has conversion disorder as a result of trauma, is one of more than 50 people to have come through the local franchise group's disability employment program.

“Zach was meant to be, according to the Australian Government, effectively on an eight-hour benchmark,” program founder and franchise human resources director Josh Bamford said.

“That’s what they felt he could do, which is the lowest tier — Zach was meant to be somebody who pretty much couldn’t work.

“But from the beginning of Zach’s employment, it went from eight hours to us putting him on 38 hours a week as a casual.

“We offered him full-time and he took it, and then Zach put his hand up for a program called management-in-training, a three-month course working with another manager.

“He put his hand up for that, and was successful with his application.”

Mr Allen, whose condition can lead to a variety of symptoms including seizure-like episodes that prevents him from driving, said he had never been happier or more settled in his life.

“I love it, it’s completely different than previous work,” he said.

“You hear a lot of things about (working in fast food), but once you get to know everyone, you just fit right in.”

McDonald's East Toowoomba assistant manager Zach Allen, who has conversion disorder as a result of trauma, is one of more than 50 people to have come through the local franchise group's disability employment program run by HR director Josh Bamford.

Mr Bamford said the key to the success of the DEP, which is run in conjunction with partner APM Employment Services, was its focus on finding what potential employees could do rather than what they couldn’t.

“The worst thing we could’ve done is set up a box-ticking exercise, it was never about showcasing how diverse we were, it was set up to fill genuine shortages in labour,” he said.

“During 2021-22 labour shortages were massive and we took the rule book out and started all over again and asked what have we leveraged.

“We’re now north of 50 people in our organisation who are with us with some level of barrier, ranging from significant to mild, where you wouldn’t even know it.

“We take every applicant individually, I am the only one that does the interviews.

“We take the job description and take out things we know they won’t be able to do, and look at what they can do and work with that.”

Mr Bamford said the business community was finally starting to understand the potential of people with disabilities, urging employers to expand their scope and rethink their approach.

Originally published as Toowoomba McDonald’s disability employment program graduate Zach Allen set to become franchise’s first manager