Cutting Sunday penalty rates will hit Australia’s poorest people the hardest
MANY hospitality and retail workers will have read about the Productivity Commission’s recommendation to cut Sunday penalty rates and felt more than a little worried.
The report, which recommends bringing Sunday penalty rates into line with Saturday 50 per cent loadings, will have serious consequences for Australia’s lowest-paid workers if adopted by the Fair Work Commission.
While this might seem like a modest pay cut, it represents a huge sacrifice for workers who often rely on weekend penalty rates just to make ends meet.
Sadly, I speak from experience. I know that coveted Sunday shifts often mean the difference between a stocked fridge and scraping together change to pay rent. As a former university student juggling study and casual hospitality work, I understand how even a small rise in income can make a huge difference to everyday life.
Sunday rates often put an extra $80 or more into my pocket. For someone surviving off two-minute noodles, that income was rarely discretionary – it was essential for replacing basic items, such as toiletries or cleaning products. And it isn’t only one side of politics that supports penalty rates. A recent poll shows the Turnbull Government faces overwhelming opposition from up to 80 per cent of voters in key Liberal and National seats if it cuts Sunday penalties.
These voters know that 2.5 million Australians already live below the poverty line, and any attack on wages and conditions of the lowest-paid workers will result in that number growing.
Many economists and employer groups argue high labour costs on Sunday trading risks the very viability of some small businesses. They add that lower or no penalty rates must necessarily create more jobs and provide more working hours to those already in the industry.
But this ignores a key reality – demand for work on Sundays is now high because wages are currently fair compensation for these anti-social hours. Small business could well struggle to find uni students and others willing to work Sunday if there is no commensurate reward. And that, too, threatens the viability of Sunday trading.
It would be churlish though to ignore in this debate the interests of small, often family owned, businesses that employ so much of Australia’s workforce. But arguments that increased trading opportunities for small business owners will directly benefit workers are weak.
The Turnbull Government is playing risky politics with this industrial relations debate. Surely, it is a mistake for it to distance itself from the Productivity Commission’s findings – by declaring any decision on penalty rates is a matter for the Fair Work Commission – as it could erode working Australians’ potential support for a reinvigorated Coalition under Turnbull.
The real challenge for the Government now is to tackle rising unemployment, especially among young workers, while protecting Australians’ standard of living and, therefore, their power to consume.
Only then will both small business and workers rest easy.
Sarah Binney is a Brisbane freelance writer
Source: The Courier Mail, Sarah Binney, 30th December 2015
