Penalty rates mean fewer shifts for workers, says Darwin pub owner

A Darwin pub owner has said he had to pick up extra shifts to avoid paying staff exorbitant penalty rates over the long weekend.

Hotel Darwin, in Darwin's Mitchell Street nightclub precinct, was open on the Easter public holidays, including Good Friday, and workers were paid a minimum 150 per cent bonus.

Licensee of the pub, John Meers, said he could not offer much work to his employees due to the penalty rates.

"Some of the kids missed out on shifts because I picked up those shifts myself to try and reduce the impact on the business," he said.

"If you've got seven people working and you're paying 50 bucks an hour you've got to turn over a good dollar to make a quid out of a day."

Businesses in the Territory must pay their workers double time or double time-and-a-half on public holidays, unless they negotiate an enterprise agreement.

This means they have negotiated to pay their workers a higher wage the rest of the year, so they do not need to pay penalty rates.

Another Mitchell Street pub, Shenannigans Irish Bar, has a collective agreement in place.

Trish Kelly pulls a beer at the Hotel Darwin on Easter Monday.(ABC News: Steven Schubert)

Penalty rates fair for missing family time: union

But the union representing retail workers in the Northern Territory has appealed for workers to get public holidays off, saying it is a necessary break for workers.

The Territory's Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association's Peter Malinauskas said workers need to be awarded if they were not getting a break on public holidays.

"In the Northern Territory, stores are open every single day of the week and are allowed to trade late at night," he said.

"So the only time that workers can guarantee having some time off is on those days that stores close."

Mr Malinauskas said penalty rates were fair and reasonable.

"In the Northern Territory there are 11 public holidays throughout the year, this is not a large number of days," he said.

"We think that on those special days where there's extra recognition, those people who are giving up important time with family and friends should be paid extra for it."