Enterprise bargaining negotiations have created months of “strain” for select franchisees that make up profit powerhouse The Athlete’s Foot.
The owners of eight Victorian-based Athlete’s Foot franchises have had their enterprise agreement applications rejected by the national workplace relations tribunal Fair Work Australia (FWA). Commissioner Dominica Whelan from FWA cited “procedural defects” and the failure to meet the ‘no disadvantage test’ as reasons for the applications’ refusal.
The development highlights a stressor that has affected many of the franchisees that make up The Athlete’s Foot’s 142-store empire, owned by RCG Corporation. RCG finance director Michael Hirschowitz said the difficulty of the enterprise agreement negotiations had come to light during discussions between the franchisees affected by the latest FWA decision and an RCG human resources manager.
“There was a discussion about what would happen if [the enterprise agreements] were rejected, which took place the day before the decision was handed down,” Hirschowitz said. “The franchisees, in pre-empting it said they had felt that going through the enterprise agreement process had actually placed quite a long of strain on their staff and were concerned that any appeal, if [their application] was rejected, would place further strain on the process.”
He also revealed the Victorian franchisees were not the only ones to have had enterprise agreements refused by FWA, with other The Athlete’s Foot franchisees in Brisbane and NSW also receiving rejections. Hirschowitz said efforts to redress the fall-out will be undertaken this month.
“We have our half-year national conference in Melbourne in two weeks’ time and there will be a review with franchisees involved of the outcome and whether there’s any desire or preference to re-enter the enterprise agreement process.”
Currently, the Victorian franchises that received the FWA refusal are operating under award conditions.
RCG Corporation does not mandate the employment conditions its franchisees implement, although Hirschowitz said the company does provide a “support service” including information on legislative changes and state-based forums.
In addition to The Athlete’s Foot, RCG Corporation also operates the Shoe Superstore Group and Merrell Footwear & Apparel. The company has forecast consolidated pre-tax profit growth of more than 20 per cent for the 12 months ending June 30, 2010.
Erin O’Loughlin.