McDonald’s Australia Limited
ABN 43 008 496 928
21-29 Central Avenue
Thornleigh NSW 2120
PO Box 392
Pennant Hills NSW 2120
5 April 2011
Phone: (02) 9875 6666
Fax: (02) 9875 6565
To: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR)
Re: Submission on ‘A Shared Responsibility- Apprenticeships for the 21st Century’
McDonald’s Australia Limited wishes to respond to the report ‘A Shared
Responsibility- Apprenticeships for the 21st Century’ through the DEEWR
stakeholder consultation process. We have also been involved in consultation for
responses from the Australian Retail Industry and the Enterprise RTO Association
(ERTOA) and support these submissions. We would also like to thank DEEWR for
the opportunity to attend a meeting with the Expert Panel on March 15 as a
representative of ERTOA.
As a large employer in the service industry and an RTO, McDonald’s believes that
the recommendations from the report will have a significant impact on the service
industry and our business. We would like to state here that we support most of the
recommendations made by the Expert Panel and we strongly support
recommendations 2, 3, 8, 10, 11, and 12. The impact of these recommendations if
implemented would be positive and welcomed. As an RTO, we would like to note in
particular the recommendations associated with greater focus on national
consistency and the review of systemic complexity. McDonald’s would be happy to
be involved in any consultation, development, roundtable or trial process to support
any of these recommendations. We can also see the importance of recommendation
14 on a national level, however we believe that the current employment, wage and
equal opportunity policies within our own organisation ensure we would meet any
introduced standard under this recommendation.
McDonald’s is concerned with recommendation 5 and the validity of the data and
arguments that support this in the report. We reject the implication that the skills and
development gained in a retail traineeship are not as important as those in other
industries. The following discussion will focus on our argument that retail
traineeships are valuable and that those employers and RTO’s that engage with
retail traineeships are, and will continue to be, vital contributors in the concept of
‘sharing the responsibility’ and supporting a skilled economy.
McDonald’s Australia Limited is an organisation with over 800 restaurants, 70% of
which are owned by our 265 Licensees, and 5 corporate offices. In total, we employ
over 80000 people nationally. We are extremely proud of our commitment to our
people and part of this commitment was the establishment of an RTO in 1997. The
RTO has over 50 employees with teams in each state servicing all regions. One of
the most valuable benefits of delivering retail traineeships is the ability to offer
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qualifications to every location where we have a McDonald’s restaurant. Currently,
we are able to offer traineeships in remote areas such as Darwin, Broken Hill,
Broome, Burnie and Roma. This gives the Licensee the ability to have formal
training and development for employees who may not otherwise have this
opportunity. In many areas McDonald’s Licensees are the main employers in a
community. There are not a lot of options for vocational training or employment in
some of these communities, particularly for early school leavers, and the fact that we
can offer a retail traineeship within paid employment demonstrates real value and
support to that community.
In 2010, McDonald’s had over 4800 employees completing traineeships in
Certificate II and III in Retail. Our goal for 2011 is 6000. We have been increasing
the number of employees undertaking traineeships as demand has increased from
our Licensees each year. The feedback from our Licensees is that an employee who
has completed a traineeship not only has a high level of skill in completing their job
but also develops an understanding of the business, an ability to work well with
others and seeks more challenging opportunities. These benefits cannot be
underestimated when calculating the value of a retail traineeship. Not only are these
employees more highly skilled but they are also targeted for promotion and further
training and development. McDonald’s has a commitment that every employee
considered for Management will complete a Certificate III in Retail as a prerequisite
to commencing a career in management. This commitment was made due to the
overwhelming feedback on the quality of the training and development received by
an employee completing this traineeship and their subsequent readiness for
promotion. As well as promotion into a management career, many of our employees
who have completed traineeships use their qualification to gain credit towards higher
qualifications including entry into undergraduate studies and other vocational
courses.
McDonald’s gives its employees choice and the ability to tailor their development to
their own career or educational aspirations. This type of development is not
mentioned anywhere in the data or qualitative examples given in the report.
We believe it is important to detail some examples here that perhaps were not
addressed by the Expert Panel in their report and will support the argument that
retail traineeships are a ‘worthwhile and positive return on the investment to the
community’ (page 36).
Example 1:
Employee A is a Year 10 student in NSW. They are undecided about their future as
their school results for the year in several subjects are unsatisfactory. Employee A
still wants to continue their education but these results have lowered their
confidence and they are uncertain about their ability to finish Year 12. Employee A
works at McDonald’s B 12 hours a week. Employee A sees a sign in the restaurant
advertising School-based traineeships. Employee A talks to the Restaurant Manager
and their School Guidance Counsellor and decides that this is a great way to
continue studying at school, continue to earn pocket money and complete a
traineeship as part of their HSC subject load.
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Employee A returns to school in Year 11 with confidence knowing that one of their
subjects is Certificate II in Retail and they will get support from their parents, the
school, the restaurant and their RTO team member to complete the work.
Employee A completes their HSC.
Example 2:
Employee E has worked for McDonald’s for 3 months after several years out of the
workforce. They love the job and want to progress. The Restaurant Manager
suggests that Employee E commences a Certificate II in Retail. Despite Employee
E’s concerns about not having been at school for a long time they decide to
commence a Certificate II in Retail traineeship. Through support from the restaurant
and the RTO Employee E completes the traineeship and immediately wants to start
a Certificate III in Retail traineeship. The restaurant is very happy with the leadership
skills and confidence demonstrated by Employee E and agrees to the traineeship.
Employee E completes the traineeship and is promoted to management. In 2 years
Employee E has completed 3 management courses and is now a senior manager in
the restaurant. Employee E is a full-time salaried manager with entitlements to
bonus and other benefits.
These examples demonstrate the value a retail traineeship can not only offer our
employees but the wider community including parents, other educational institutions
and future employers. McDonald’s is often the first place of employment for many
young people and can also be their first formal achievement in education. We also
offer School-based traineeships in all states and these can often be the only option
for some school students in completing the final year of study in high school.
The report states on page 35 that ‘criteria for tailoring support should be based on
high quality on-the-job and off-the-job training and transferability of skills, with an
established process to identify the current and future needs of the economy’. This
then forms the Expert Panel’s definition of ‘eligible trainees and apprentices’. Whilst
McDonald’s does not necessarily agree with this definition, if this is the definition that
does determine the criteria for eligibility in the future, we believe that the discussion
and examples above demonstrate that retail traineeships more than meet this
criteria.
The report details the reasons why traineeships were introduced into the vocational
education and training system (page 34) and many of these reasons are still valid
today: Traineeships are a ‘stepping stone’, they assist those returning to the
workforce, they address gender imbalances, they have increased the skill levels in
non-trade occupations. We challenge that these reasons are relevant today and that
this supports the argument that retail traineeships are valuable and support a skilled
economy.
McDonald’s Australia Limited can see real benefits in an engagement between
industry and Government that is committed to understanding the productivity and
economic contribution of the retail service industry and the broader implications for
any changes to the current traineeship system.
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This submission has been completed for McDonald’s Australia Limited by Lisa
Apthorpe, National RTO Manager, McDonald’s Australia Limited and is supported by
Helen Nash, Chief Operating Officer, McDonald’s Australia Limited.
We would be happy to discuss the final report and this submission at any time with
DEEWR, and in fact would welcome any involvement in further consultation or
discussion arising from the stakeholder consultation process.
Yours sincerely
Lisa Apthorpe
National RTO Manager
McDonald’s Australia Limited
Ph: 02 98756015
Email: lisa.apthorpe@au.mcd.com
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