Pizza Hut Surcharge | Penalty Rates for Employees
Anzac Day, 2007 and my family wanted Pizza for dinner. I had noticed on the voucher that a surcharge of 10% of the total cost of my pizzas would have to be paid. It was a public holiday and paying an extra 10% was a fair thing to pay. The guys and gals working today, deserved the extra pay, so I was quite willing to pay Pizza Huts Public holiday surcharge.
I ordered 3 $4.95 Large pizzas from my local Pizza Hut (Christies Beach, South Australia), I had ordered them online and my wife and I had gone down to pick them up 20 minutes later. It was quite busy and while waiting I asked Lisa(my wife) “do you think these young people get a penalty rate today?”. “I don’t think so, not since the new Industrial Relations laws introduced came in” she replied. “Well, then why are we paying a surcharge”? I responded. She went on to say she wasn’t sure, but thought it was a ripoff, if the staff didn’t get the extra money, seeing the surcharge was charged.
Mmmmmmm, I might ask the guy at the counter, do you get more money today?
It was our turn to get our pizzas. That will be $14.80 sir and a $1.48 public holiday surcharge. Ok, I was willing to pay the surcharge and I did. I then asked the lad if he got paid more on public holidays and he replied “you have to be joking”, we get the same wage everyday.
I saw red! I then asked, why are you charging me and extra 10% then? Mmmm, I don’t know he told me. Ok, then I want to speak to the supervisor. He called over his shift supervisor and said I wanted to ask her a question.
Excuse me miss I asked, But do you staff get extra money on a public holiday, she replied yes and then quickly turned around an walked off. The rest of the counter staff looked bewildered and said, no we don’t.
Now I don’t know who to believe. If the staff are right and they get no more money for working a public holiday, then we are being ripped off by Pizza Hut, from an old wage system(pre new work relationship agreements) that now does not take into consideration that Pizza Hut maqy not pay penalty rates.
If this is true, then Pizza Hut has profited from the system and basically frauded us into beleiving that the surcharge is paid to the staff on public holidays.
On the other side, the staff may have told me an untruth and that means that this whole topic is for nothing and that Pizza Hut is a responsible employee and should be respected as such. But I wonder, if what the staff tell me is true and that Pizza Hut is pocketing the surcharge, profiting from the gullibilty of their cutomers and denying the surcharge from their employees.
I am going to follow this up and find out the truth for myself. I will keep you informed of my findings and if Pizza Hut is ripping the cutomers and employees off, I will be yelling from the highest hill.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
See below pay info on pizza hut. I had the same concerns. All depends on normal rostering, but I gather most of the young staff don’t really look at or understand their rights. from my understanding they should get double time.
The URL for this is http://www.airc.gov.au/consolidated_awards/at/at792506/asframe.html
AT792506 - Pizza Hut - SDA National Employee Relations Award 2000 [Transitional]
27. PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
27.1 Full-time and part-time employees will be entitled to the following public holidays without loss of pay:
Christmas Day;
Boxing Day;
New Years Day;
Australia Day;
Good Friday;
Easter Saturday (or Show Day in Tasmania);
Easter Monday;
Anzac Day;
Labour Day or Eight Hour Day;
The Birthday of the Reigning Sovereign;
Union Picnic Day as follows:
Tasmania - Hobart Regatta Day (South of Oatlands) or Recreation Day elsewhere;
New South Wales and Victoria - Melbourne Cup Day;
Northern Territory - Picnic Day;
ACT - the first Monday in March;
or such other day as is agreed between the Branch Secretary of the Union and the employer.
27.2 Where throughout a State or Territory public holidays are declared or prescribed on days other than those set out in 27.1 above, those days shall constitute additional holidays for the purpose of this award.
27.3 A full-time employee whose non-working day falls on a public holiday will receive by mutual agreement:
27.3.1 another day off in lieu to be taken within 28 days of the holiday;
27.3.2 an additional day’s pay; or
27.3.3 an extra day added to annual leave.
The above shall not apply to Anzac Day when it falls on a weekend, or to Easter Saturday.
27.4 A part-time employee for whom a public holiday falls on a day of the week that forms part of the employee’s regular roster cycle but is not rostered to work on the holiday shall be entitled to:
27.4.1 another day off in lieu to be taken within 28 days of the holiday;
27.4.2 an additional day’s pay; or
27.4.3 an extra day added to annual leave.
27.5 Where days other than those listed in 27.1 above have special significance due to an employee’s religious or cultural beliefs, the employer and an employee may agree to substitute alternative days.
27.6 Excepting where it has been agreed to change the day a holiday is observed, all work done by weekly employees on any of the holidays prescribed in this clause shall be paid at the rate of double time. Casuals (other than ‘Method B’ delivery drivers) shall receive a total of 200% of the ordinary hourly classification rate for work on the day.
27.7 Where an employee is absent from employment on the working day before or after a public holiday without reasonable excuse or without the consent of the employer, the employee shall lose the entitlement to payment for one public holiday for each day so absent.
27.8 For the purpose of this clause, ‘day’ shall mean the average number of daily hours worked by the employee in the four weeks immediately prior to the day on which the holiday falls.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Thanks for the information David. I will chase it up further and post my results here.
May 31st, 2007 at 5:14 am
i am a shift supervisor (manager) and a kitchenhand in a nsw store.
i can tell you now, yes we do get penalty rates on public holidays.
it is the only time this occurs.
staff in this instance may have not been fully informed, but it should be displayed on the roster.
they dont come around too often, so you do notice the difference on your pay slip.
i have worked here for the past four years, and that entire time if i had shifts on public holidays they were payed at double time.
June 4th, 2007 at 2:04 am
I work in the Sydney call center and on public holidays we get paid double time, as should anyone else working under the NSW SDA Award (which should be everyone).
Don’t know about SA though, and I know that during Easter a small minority (like 1 or 2) of Victorian stores were not doing the surcharge. Whether those stores were paying extra on those days, I don’t know.
June 6th, 2007 at 1:51 am
Thankyou for the replies. The information has been very helpful to alot of our visitors.
August 19th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
My 18 year old daughter has worked at Pizza Hut since she was 14 and has never received anything extra for working on Public Holidays including Good Friday.