It may have a social cost, but lowering Sunday penalty rates could mean more jobs become available for Hunter youth, Maitland Business Chamber president Craig McGregor says.
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The Productivity Commission released a draft report on Australia’s workplace relations framework yesterday.
It recommended that Sunday penalty rates in the retail and hospitality industries be lowered to match Saturday penalty rates.
Mr McGregor said hospitality and retail were traditionally the domains of younger employees, so the changes could mean more work for Maitland’s youth.
He said this would be positive, given that the youth unemployment rate has hovered around 18 per cent for 15 to 24-year-olds in the Lower Hunter outside Newcastle for several months.
“The comment you hear around is that penalty rate costs inhibit [business owners] opening on weekends,” Mr McGregor said.
“It may mean people work more hours and there may be a social cost for people having to work on a Sunday, but that’s part of the question of whether we are moving towards a seven day a week economy rather than the traditional five days a week.”
An 18-year-old casual retail employee working in customer service gets paid $16.61 per hour regularly.
But they get $17.94 per hour to work on Saturday and $26.58 per hour for Sunday.
For an 18-year-old restaurant or cafe employee authorised to wait tables and serve alcohol, the $23.09 per hour pay rate is bumped up to $27.71 per hour of a weekend, with no difference in pay between Saturday and Sunday.
Mr McGregor said business owners, such as cafe proprietors, often faced the tough decision of whether to increase prices or roster fewer staff members on Sundays because of the cost penalty rates.
“Otherwise it’s a matter of whether people are happy to pay $4 for their cup of coffee [on weekdays] but $6 on a Sunday,” he said.
The commission has put its draft report on public exhibition until September 18.
The proposed change refers to minimum pay on a Sunday.
An employer could choose to pay a worker more than the new minimum if they wished.
Productivity Commission chairman Peter Harris said changes to workplace relations framework had to take into account more than economics.
“There are ethical and community norms about the way in which a country treats its employees,” he said.