Migrant Workers Exploited in SA Fast-Food Restaurants

Devan Moonsamy CEO of The ICHAF Training Institute Immigration is usually not about wanting to travel, but a dire necessity when conditions in one’s own country are so unstable and hazardous that the only other option is to become a second-class, unwelcome, even illegal resident in another country. If it is safer to do this, think how bad it must be back home for migrant people coming into South Africa.

It has come to light that certain fast-food restaurants based in South Africa are taking advantage of that desperation. The working week is usually about 40 hours, including lunch breaks. Employees at certain fast-food restaurants are working an exhausting 80-hour week, some as high as 87 hours a week. Seven days a week they work double shifts, not being relieved from duty at any time while the restaurant is open from morning to evening.

They also receive no help whatsoever with transport. Leaving work after 10:00 at night, they may get home close to midnight, after taking more than one taxi. Considering that the majority of these chain restaurant workers are women, this is hardly safe. What opportunity do they have to spend time with their families, to get enough sleep?

And the pay? A meagre R18 an hour; no tips allowed. Migrant workers in other industries are receiving even less at R10 an hour. The average salary in Johannesburg is about R33 000 per month, for Cape Town it is almost R29 000, and in Durban and Bloemfontein it is about R23 000. This means that the average hourly rate is about R140 to R200. While migrant workers at fast-food outlets may earn a salary, and many unemployed people would be grateful for that, the labour conditions are exploitative and certainly do not justify the salary, especially one so much lower than the average.

In some restaurants, employees are even expected to pay for branded uniforms, and even special safety shoes which cost about R300 and more, costing workers at least 16 hours of their wages. Wages are also deducted if the employee is late, regardless of the reason.

Some of the workers are living in SA illegally, but rather than seeing it as a problem to be addressed, the franchises see it as an opportunity for exploitation. Furthermore, by accepting employees with no visa, they encourage the influx of illegal migrants.

Among the most serious forms of worker abuse in these restaurants is discrimination against women who fall pregnant. Because the workers are viewed as disposable, pregnant women are simply laid off. Labour laws are not implemented to protect immigrants, especially women who lose support for their visas when they fall pregnant.

Some women who are pregnant are refused assistance by their employer, even to renew an asylum status visa. They are forced to go back with a baby to care for and little prospect of making a living. This also splits families up.

The treatment of these workers calls for a boycott of the guilty companies. However, this may make the situation worse because workers may be granted shorter hours but the hourly rate remain unchanged, resulting in a loss of income. Some may also be laid off.

Where do we turn for answers to these problems? Franchises and restaurants aren’t all bad, and there are lessons to be learnt from some of them. Nandos has been identified as among those with better labour practices. Apparently, they make use of a careful screening process in recruitment, and representatives from the headquarters regularly hold meetings with franchises about the working conditions of employees and their salaries.

It is also said that some franchises send undercover workers to monitor what is really happening. Such practices must be implemented in more fast-food franchises to protect migrant people in South Africa.

Devan Moonsamy is author of Racism, Classism, Sexism, And The Other ISMs That Divide Us, available from the ICHAF Training Institute.

The book tackles contemporary issues in the South African workplace, including xenophobia and issues related to migrant workers. It is an excellent guide for managers to harnessing diversity for success and overcoming diversity-related challenges. 

Devan specialises in conflict and diversity management, and regularly conducts seminars on these issues for corporates. To book a seminar with Devan, please use the contact details below.Tel: 011 262 2461 | Email: devan@ichaftraining.co.za | Website: ichaftraining.co.za