Subway workers claim they 'picked rotten tomatoes from bin'

The franchise owner has denied the claims. Photo / Supplied

Two former Subway employees say they saw customers served with food that had been picked up off the floor and were even forced to retrieve rotten tomatoes from the bin.

The young workers, identified only as Kate and Dylan, allege they saw the stomach-churning conduct while working for franchise owner Perry, who they accuse of underpaying them by A$36,000 ($38,192).

Speaking to A Current Affair on Tuesday night, Dylan said "we were never allowed to throw anything out". "You know, if it was out of date, oh well, just keep it, keep using it," he told the program.

Kate added, "I've seen food picked up off the floor and put back in the sandwich bar. I've been yelled at for tipping a box of rotten tomatoes in the bin and made to pick every single one of them out."

Dylan alleges he was underpaid nearly A$24,000 while Kate says she is owed nearly A$13,000. "That was my first job, I didn't know any better. I was trusting, I thought, this is a multinational company," she said.

"I started at 16 washing dishes, moved up into being a store manager. That was where I realised Subway doesn't do things right. I worked when I first started for A$9.04 an hour and that was during the day, at night, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays."

Former Subway employee Kate on A Current Affair. Photo / Supplied

She says Subway head office was aware of their complaints. "Subway knew about this from 2017," she said. "Every month we told their assessors, they used to come in the store, they used to ask us our opinions on how the store was being run and they never did anything about it."

She added, "I think people will be honestly mortified to hear what I've got to say. Working for Subway was probably the worst experience of my whole entire life."

According to A Current Affair, Perry agreed to pay them some of their unpaid wages after they complained to the Fair Work Ombudsman in 2017.

The pair allege to date he has not done so, but in a statement to the program the franchise owner said the Ombudsman had facilitated a settlement after investigating their claims.

He also said his restaurant underwent monthly compliance checks and had never served ingredients that did not meet food safety standards.

Nearly one in 10 Australian Subway stores have closed over the past four years, from 1444 in 2015 to 1353 this year, amid claims of franchisee mistreatment, unpopular menu changes and staff underpayments.

Subway has been contacted for comment.