Says it has 'far exceeded' government requirements with job paying $48,000
Burger King is facing criticism in relation to its attempt to hire a temporary foreign worker for a managerial position.
On Sept. 25, the hamburger fast food chain posted a restaurant manager job post in Mississauga, Ont. on the federal government’s online job bank, according to Global News.
The position will pay $48,000 annually or $25 per hour, with hours listed as “Day, Evening, Night, Weekend, Early Morning, Morning.”
Under the posting, Burger King notes: “This employer has applied for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to hire a foreign worker to fill labour or skills shortages on a temporary basis.”
An LMIA is a document that an employer in Canada may need to get before hiring a foreign worker, according to the federal government. A positive LMIA will show that there is a need for a foreign worker to fill the job. It will also show that no Canadian worker or permanent resident is available to do the job.
In a statement to Global News, Burger King said the position "has not been filled for several months after advertising across employment platforms and not receiving any qualified candidates."
‘Decades of abuse’ under TFW program
Still, the move did not sit well with Matthew Green, the labour critic of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP).
“This case is yet another example of decades of abuse that highlights how the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program is being exploited by industries to source cheap labour, suppressing wages for Canadian workers,” he said, according to Global News.
“Employers are using the TFW program not as a short-term solution, but as a way to avoid offering higher wages that would attract and retain local workers.”
Previously, Tomoya Obokata, United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, noted that the TFW Program “serves as a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery, as it institutionalizes asymmetries of power that favour employers and prevent workers from exercising their rights”.
Burger King defends use of TFWP
But Burger King is not doing anything illegal with the job posting, according to the company.
For one thing, “as part of the LMIA approval process, the federal government requires proof that franchisees have advertised for at least four weeks to show that efforts have been made to fill the position locally. In this case, they have far exceeded that requirement. The role continues to be available and open to all applicants,” Burger King said in its statement to Global News.
Also, the wage offered for the job “is a competitive range amongst quick-service restaurants in the Mississauga area, which is based on competitive data and the franchisee’s experience in hiring in this market,” the spokesperson said in response.
The federal government has made numerous changes to the TFW Program in the past few months with the goal of reducing employers’ reliance on the program and making them hire Canadian workers. Yet, numerous stakeholders have criticized the said changes.
While Canada remains one of the richest countries in the world, its standing among wealthy countries is taking a hit, and employers’ reliance on temporary foreign workers has a role in that, according to a CBC report citing data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).