2017/02: Should penalty rates for Australians who work on Sundays be reduced?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:On February 23, 2017, the ABC televised a news report detailing the Fair Work Commission’s decision to reduce Sunday penalty rates for many Australian workers. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said
There is a disutility [inconvenience] associated with weekend work above that applicable to work performed Monday to Friday though the extent of the disutility is much less than in times past
The Fair Work Commission justifying its decision to reduce Sunday penalty rates
Those of us who dont work on [Sunday] now want to have the lowest-paid working in shops and cafes in order to serve us on our day off, and receive less pay for doing so
Greg Jericho, commentator for The Guardian
The issue at a glance
On February 23, 2016, the Fair Work Commission announced that Sunday penalty rates paid in the retail, fast food, hospitality and pharmacy industries will be reduced from existing levels, which, in some cases, are as much as "double time".
Most of the pay cuts are intended to take effect from July, and some will be phased in over time.
Full-time and part-time workers in retail will have their Sunday penalty rates dropped from 200 per cent to 150 per cent of their standard hourly rate, while casuals will go from 200 per cent to 175 per cent.
Hospitality employees will receive a reduction in Sunday pay from 175 per cent to 150 per cent, while casual hospitality workers' pay will remain unchanged.
Fast-food employees' Sunday rates will go from 150 per cent to 125 per cent for full-time and part-time staff, and casuals will go from 200 per cent to 175 per cent.
Holiday penalty rates for full-time and part-time employees in hospitality and retail will also be reduced from 250 per cent, or "double-time and a half", to 225 per cent.
The changes do not extend to restaurants and cafes; however, restaurant employer groups have the opportunity to try to mount another case.
Employer representatives have welcomed this decision as the removal of a break on customer service and a move which will see an increase in Sunday staffing; while workers representatives have condemned the decision as an attack on the living conditions of those among the lowest paid in the workforce.