The Essay On Case Inquiry Of 7 Eleven Company.

Discussion: Summary of the inquiry

Discuss about the Case Inquiry of 7 Eleven Company.

7 Eleven is a company that is dealing with the convenience matters. An US based company has certain branch stores all over the world  In Australia, the branch store had been opened in the year 1977. It is one of the emerging stores in the history of convenience and by the time, there are almost 626 stores have been launched in various parts of the Australia. There is an enthusiasm noticed among the people to franchising the business and it resulted into an increment regarding the number of the franchisee for the store in Australia. The popularity of the stores was spreading all over and as per the annual report for the year 2005, the number of transaction had reached 185 million. The company was working as a motivation to the other franchisees of the Australia.

The problem arose in the year 2008 when a rumour regarding the company’s ill treatment regarding the workers had been spread. It was contended by the Fair Work Ombudsman that the company is engaging in the under payment system and violating the rules mentioned under the Employment Relationship (Abdu, 2013). An inquiry to find out the same had been initiated by the Fair Work inspectors and some shocking facts were come into light. According to the law, the duties of the company toward the employees are statutory-based and the provisions should not be violated at any cost. Therefore, any breach regarding the provisions will be treated as violation of laws and the outcomes of that can be serious in nature.

An inquiry had been done in the office of the 7 Eleven in the year 2014 by the Fair Work inspector to find out the reasons behind the allegations made against the company. It was alleged that the company is violating the rules regarding the employment relation and the Fair Work Act 2009. The inspectors were suddenly raid in seven stores of the company and it was found that there were certain loopholes present in the stores. The company was not maintained the office record properly and there was no CCTV footage of the night shift works. There was a discrimination occurred regarding the migrated employees and they were not get their remuneration properly. The company has not followed up the rules of the International Labour Organisation. After the inquiry report has been published, the company had to face serious criticism (Bray, 2013). The outcome of the inquiry had made serious impacts on the Australian Industry and the franchisee business had to change their policies regarding the employees or the workers.

Reason for the inquiry

It has been complained by certain workers of the company regarding the disputed remuneration system and discrimination that they have to face within the premises of the company stores. There were a number of complain had been made against the company and certain reports have been submitted to the tribunal of the Fair Work Committee. The committee had revealed that there were dissatisfaction within the employees regarding the acts of the company has been arose and the effects of this created implication on the family of the workers. 

In the year 2014, the Fair Work Ombudsman had made an inquiry and raid in the several stores of the company all of a sudden with an intention to trace out the allegations and the loopholes. The roots of the allegations were first time cropped up in the year 2006. It was alleged by an organisation, working for the interest of the workers that the company is gaining profits by way of cheating the migrated workers and there was no extra benefits offered to the workers for the night shift job or for the over times. Allegations were also made regarding the poor scale of money given to the workers and the company was not followed the payroll norms regarding the matter.

The Fair Work inspectors were found that the company had intricately involved in the allegation and they had made a serious breach regarding their duties. There is a non-compliance regarding the working criteria had been followed and the Fair Works Ombudsman identified the same. There was a serious laxity regarding the maintenance of the payroll record had been observed (Briton, 2015). There were no specific principles in the company regarding the compliance of the provisions of the employment relations and therefore, the company was engaged with the non-compliance procedure by not paying the proper wages to the employees.

The inspectors interrogated the young staffs of the company and it was found that they are facing more trouble than the older workers are. The reason behind the troubles can be characterised as they are quite novice than the older staffs. It has also been found that the records kept by the company are disputed in nature. There was a serious discrepancy found in the records and in the CCTV footage. It had been alleged that there were a number of employees appointed in various branches of the company and they had worked in the stores at night in a daily manner. However, there were no CCTV footage regarding the same found and the employees were not getting their wages at time. Therefore, it is clear from the report of the inquiry commission that the company had failed to secure the interest of the employees and there had been a serious gap made regarding the employment relationship system .

Major findings

The company “7 Eleven” was a popular name among the convenience stores and many persons were opted for taking the franchisee of the same. It was revealed from the report of the inquiry that more than half of the franchisees were inexperienced in that field and they did not know to manage the situation properly. The mentality of the company regarding the under payment had been clarified regarding the appointment of the employees. There was a leaning mentality of the company to appoint the migrated people observed and the company used to cheat the workers harshly (Chiao, 2013).

It has been observed that the company was not kept the records properly and there were not any proof or documents that can lead towards the appointment of the migrated employees or the workers working at the night. Furthermore, the migrated workers had to face certain penalties during the works and the rules of the penalties were not according to the provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009.

Employment relation means the relation in between the workers and the employers it. Under the relationship, both thee workers and the employers have certain duties owed to each other. It is the utmost duty of the employers to secure the rights of the employees, as they are subordinate to the employers. The employees are devoted themselves in the work and the employers are gaining benefit regarding the same (Chopra, 2017). The employers are devoted to the workers reciprocally. The term workers include migrated as well as the private workers. Under the Fair Work Act and certain provisions of the ER system, it is the right of the every worker to get remuneration and extra fees for the works and if there is any breach happened, the appropriate rules will be applicable on the same.

The Australian Employment Relation System is quite similar to the British system. The labour parties influence the employment relation system and the effects of the parties have been developed since 2009. The Australian economic system is very much depended on the service sector. In Australia, there is a yawning gap can be observed. The gap was created as there are certain dissimilarities cropped up regarding the definition and scope of the ER system. The primary motto of the system is to protect the interest of the employees. The acts of the employers are subjected to the rules mentioned by the Fair Work Act and the International Labour Organisation. The common rule regarding the employees is they should be paid fairly as against any job. No employees shall be discriminated by the employers during performing the job. If there is no fixed remuneration given to the employee, it is their right to get certain benefits from the employer.

Gaps in the Australian Employment Relation System

In the modern times, the employers at Australia are involved in the coercion process and trying to cheat the employees to get certain extra profits from the business. The employers have done manipulation and they are not paying the employees properly. In the present case, the problem arose regarding the underpayment problems and discrepancies regarding the official record (Endo, 2014). The workers are performing their job for the sake of the company and it is their right to get proper fees for the same. In case of the over time, they are entitled to get extra fees. However, in the present case, the company had not paid the employees and there were grudge regarding the same were aggravated within the workers. Therefore, it can be stated that the acts of the company had violated the terms of the employment relations and a gap has been generated regarding the same.

In the federal system of Australia, States are playing certain important role regarding the Employment Relation. The States are intervened in the system to govern the political influence in the employment sectors. The economy of Australia is mostly depended on the employment sector and the States are interfered in the subject to regulate the income and prices. It is the duty of every States to maintain the balance regarding the employer and the employees. It is the foremost duty of the State to look into the employment matter so that the interest of the employees is not being harmed. Therefore, States are playing important role in the employment relation system (Grasso, 2015).

The 7 Eleven company had made serious breach regarding the norms of the employment law and the interest of the employees are very much affected by the acts of the company. The company did not pay up many employees properly and the migrated employees and the fresher were discriminated by the company (Li, 2016). It was revealed by the inquiry report that the company had not maintained the records regarding the appointment of the employees and the inquiry team had to face a number of problems regarding the same. therefore, it can be said that the company was engaged into the wrongful method to earn benefits and misrepresented the image of the company by coerce the employees and the same made a gap in the Employment relation system of Australia .         

In the case of the 7 Eleven, there was a leaning mentality of the company has been observed towards the employees at large. 7 Eleven was popular in the convenience sector and the franchisee system of Australia was inter-connected with the company. The transaction amount of the company for the year 2008 was near about 183 million. However, the Australian Employment sectors were shocked when the information regarding the company’s violation as against the employment laws are observed. The Fair Work Inspector in the several stores of the company has conducted an inquiry (Pekarek, 2016). The findings made by the inquiry were shown the naked truth behind the allegation and rocked the Australian industries. The sudden raid by the officials blocked all the easy pass of the company and the discrepancies were pointed out easily. Immense criticism was made in the news and in the media regarding the same and the industrial society of Australia was affected by the steps. Many leading news papers in Australia held the significance of the case and expose the various aspects of the report made by the inquiry commission. It was stated by The Guardian that the employees were affected by the arbitrary decisions of the company and many employees were beaten up when they had tried to make complaint against the waging disputes (MORAN, 2014).

The grievance of the workers were accumulated regarding the under waging system of the company and almost 2500 complaints were made before the Senate Employment Committee against the company. Apart from the under waging system, discrimination regarding the workers were another emerging problem in 7 Eleven. It was alleged by many workers of the company that they had to work at night and did not get the fees in time. Sometimes, they are paid in half. “Sydney Morning Herald” reported that after the report of the inquiry commission got published, the illegal acts of the company came into light and the company paid a lump sum amount to the employees (Webster, 2017).

It is important to create a balance between the employer and the employees and it was the primary motto of the inquiry. In the industry of Australia, the franchisee structure is very common. In the modern times, there are many allegations made against the company and the directors. Every company has the leaning nature to earn profit and they are engaging themselves in the illegal process. In Australia, there are much legislation enacted to secure the interest of the employees and certain duties have been prescribed for the company or the employers. However, breaches have been made in this respect and the case of 7 Eleven is one of the instances (Robertson, 2013). The sudden raid of the investigators are helped the other companies to get a chance to change the loopholes, if any. The under payment process is bad in nature. It affects the sentiment of the workers at large and the interest as well. The administrative system of the company had also been affected by the non-compliance nature of the company. There were no specific compliance rule mentioned in the constitution and the rules of the company. Therefore, the employers of the company got a chance to deceive the workers and deprived them from the proper wages (Wu, 2014).

However, when the report of the inquiry was come into the lights, the gap in the employment relations has been revealed. The real face of the company was exposed and it has to face criticism regarding the same. before the inquiry, there were many complaint had been made against the company but the company had not change its mentality regarding the under payment system. However, after the commencement of the inquiry, the status of the company was affected and the discrepancies were exposed (Settle, 2014). The company was paying the employees who were suffered by the wrongful acts of the company, and the company had to take oath regarding the compliance of the rules of the Fair Work Act. Other related companies were also took lesson from the case and therefore, it can be stated that the inquiry had created implication not only on the respective company, but on the Australia’s industry as well.

Conclusion:

Therefore, from the above written paragraphs, the notion has been clarified that the case of 7 Eleven has certain implication regarding the franchisee section of Australia. It has been observed that there are many Acts regarding the employment security but the employers violate the provisions of the Acts. The notion is supported by the report published on behalf of the inquiry commission. The complaints made against the company were proved by the inquiry and the loopholes were verified. Certain gaps regarding the employment relation have been made and the matters of the company were criticised by the media and the government. The scandal regarding the company had exposed the dark side of the industrial companies and the positions of the workers in the continents of Australia.

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