McDonald’s could owe past and present employees up to $90 million in holiday pay arrears. According to Unite Union, the union representing McDonald’s employees, the fast-food giant owes around 70,000 staff members money dating back ten years. Each staff member is expected to receive at least $500 each, although Unite Union anticipate this being closer to $1000, meaning that the combined total of the owed payments could be anywhere between $45 and $90 million.
McDonald’s has said that they estimate the actual number of employees owed money is closer to 40,000.
In 2016, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise said that McDonald’s needed a review surrounding how it calculated leave and holiday pay.
McDonald’s is just one company to get caught up in this sort of debacle under the Holidays Act, which has affected thousands of workers across the country. Both businesses and unions have been calling for an overhaul of the Holiday Act for the last couple of years.
