Hog’s Breath fails in bid to extend ‘zombie’ workplace agreement

The WorkChoices era deals meant some cafes were not legally required to pay penalty rates for up to 18 years.

Hog's Breath cafes were not legally required to pay penalty rates for up to 18 years..

The operators of Hog’s Breath cafes in Queensland and New South Wales have failed in their bid to extend WorkChoices era enterprise agreements that did not provide for penalty rates to workers for up to 18 years.

The Fair Work Commission rejected applications by the cafe operators to extend the “zombie agreements” by 12 months, finding they contained a raft of provisions that were less beneficial than the legal award minimum.

The long expired agreements, struck between 2005 and 2009, allowed Hog’s Breath Cafe to not pay weekend, shift, public holiday penalties or allowances to workers, many of whom are young, low-paid and regularly do shift work. Workers on zombie agreements are often missing out on significant pay and conditions that they would receive on a current or more recent agreement.

Workers at Hog’s Breath Cafes have said the agreements allowed employers to strip basic entitlements, including penalty rates for night and weekend work and minimum shift times.

Staff at one cafe said they were worse off than the award by an average $59 a week; could be sent home from a shift after one hour of paid work, receive no paid overtime and have to pay for uniforms.

“For many of us, $59 a week can be the difference between whether or not we can afford textbooks for uni, can pay the week’s rent and bills and sometimes whether or not we can get by without skipping meals or running out of petrol,” an online petition says. “Being sent home after an hour of work can mean it costs you more to get to work than the amount you get paid for that hour.”

Under changes by the Albanese government, zombie agreements terminated in December. The Hog’s Breath cafe operators sought an extension, claiming the need more time to bargain for a new agreement. In five different applications, the cafe operators argued they were currently paying wages above the award.

While some steps had been taken to commence bargaining for a new enterprise agreement, the commission said it was not convinced that it should “extend the life of a zombie agreement that provides for terms and conditions that are inferior to the award”.