Franchisees To Back Rudd’s Bully Brief

The Australian:

Big business bullying is a worthy row to hoe for the Rudd Labor Government and sorting out predatory pricing is a good place to start.

However, don’t get too excited, as bullying is widespread and the small business champion – the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission – is no world-beater.

This new Rudd goal comes as the West Australian Government has released its own bullying report into the franchise industry.

Of course, it is not called the Bully Report, but instead travels under the name of the Inquiry into the Operation of Franchise Businesses in Western Australia.

Aside from some educational issues the inquiry found there were issues involving end-of-agreement arrangements, and it recommended legislative change by the federal Government to address these shortcomings.

It also recommended changes included requiring a franchisor to explicitly disclose a franchisee’s entitlement, or lack of entitlement, to goodwill or other compensation if an agreement was not renewed.

It also said a franchisor should conduct a pre-expiry review with a franchisee at least 12 months before the end of an agreement.

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