A screenshot from a Whatsapp group chat appears to show a Burger King manager asking staff to keep working for free after clocking out.
An employee who works in the Auckland store on the corner of Queen St and Victoria St told RNZ the message was sent to a private group chat of managers last week.
The message urges workers: "don't leave your job no matter how busy, please finish your job before you leave".
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It goes on to mention an employee staying at the restaurant after clocking out to keep working, presumably for no money.
"If she can do it we can do that as well."
The worker who spoke to RNZ said she was "discouraged" by a senior staff member telling employees to continue working after the end of their shift.
"I will get paid for whatever amount of work I do," she told RNZ. "If they're expecting me to work for free, sorry, I'm not going to do that."
She says she sent the screenshot to her area manager, restaurant manager and Unite union, which represents fast food workers, but as far as she's aware no action has been taken.
Burger King's head of marketing Jake Shand said in a statement supplied to RNZ that an internal investigation into the message has been conducted.
"We are confident the Burger King manager has not asked the staff to work without pay and this was a miscommunication," he said.
"We have refreshed the management team with the policy on staffing and would like to reiterate that Burger King does not ask people to work without pay."
Newshub has approached Unite and Burger King for comment.
Newshub.
