Former McDonald’s worker, Mandep Sarkaria has won the right to workers’ compensation after she broke her leg while climbing down from a ladder during a smoke break, minutes before her shift was to start.
The Brisbane-based single mother of three was working at the Richlands outlet of the fast-food chain when the incident occurred in November 2016.
On the day of the mishap, Ms Sarkaria arrived at the restaurant 10 minutes early as required due to company policy and took the 3-meter ladder to the eatery’s rooftop to smoke a cigarette, something she claims she had done multiple times in the past.
But as luck would have it, she fell from the ladder while descending and fractured her tibia and shattered her right ankle.
The injury rendered her unable to work and she applied for WorkCover, claiming she was injured when she was required to be at work.
According to court documents, Ms Sarkaria’s initial claim was first rejected by WorkCover and also by the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission as she had failed to establish that she was “temporarily absent” from the workplace and that she was on an “ordinary recess” at the time of her injury.
However, after nearly two years of trying, the single mum’s right to a payout was accepted by the Industrial Court of Queensland.
And McDonald’s was ordered to pay up despite the fact that the roof was not an official smoking zone accessible to employees and the ladder bore a warning sign cautioning staffers against climbing the roof.
The amount of compensation is yet to be ascertained.
Judge Glenn Martin ruled “although none of the employees at the restaurant would serve a customer, or cook food, or lift a mop from the time they arrived until their shift commenced … they had, in my view, commenced work.”
He added that, in the case of Ms Sarkaria, the period during which an employee had to report to work before a shift started should be regarded as an "ordinary recess".
