After more than a decade of pay disputes, Grill’d boss insists his staff come first

Grill’d chief executive Simon Crowe has insisted the 4000 employees of his burger chain are his top priority after more than a decade of pay disputes that led to worker strikes, multiple clashes with the Fair Work Commission and a class action.

The entrepreneur said his company’s ethics and values were “alive and strong” following a turbulent two years that included allegations his burger chain denied workers rest breaks and two rejections from the workplace umpire over proposed pay deals.

“I am completely proud of and stand behind all that we represent,” Crowe said.

“I think we should always be held to a high standard and we should keep improving. We try and do the right thing on all occasions. I don’t think we’re ever perfect, but I think we contribute meaningfully to society and to our communities in a way that we’re really proud.”

Crowe opened the first Grill’d restaurant in Hawthorn in Melbourne in 2004, differentiating its premium burgers as healthier, more sustainable and community-centric through charity initiatives. Over the past decade, as it expanded its national footprint to nearly 180 stores, the company has been dogged by a string of wage-related issues and legal stoushes.

Its latest, a class action filed by Gordon Legal and backed by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA), alleges “systematic” failure to allow workers mandatory 10-minute paid breaks. Crowe pointed to a similar lawsuit filed against KFC was settled this year for $28.8 million, and another, launched against McDonald’s on behalf of 250,000 workers, is being heard in the Federal Court.

“We’re very comfortable that we have given people breaks through the journey,” Crowe said. “We’re going to defend our position vigorously, and that’s the process that’s underway at the moment.”

More than 1700 people have registered interest in the class action. “Through our investigation, supported by the SDA, we have heard from workers describing routinely missing breaks or feeling unable to take them during long or physically demanding shifts,” said Gordon Legal associate Lachlan Glass.

Allegations of pay issues surfaced in 2015 when 20-year-old worker Kahlani Pyrah was sacked for speaking out against the company’s WorkChoices-era deal. After a lawsuit against the burger chain led to revelations that hundreds of workers’ wages across 60 stores were being suppressed, the Fair Work Commission ordered the low-paying agreement be scrapped and the Federal Court ordered Pyrah be reinstated. Crowe promised at the time to “modernise” the outdated agreements and lift wag