The mist over the future of penalty rates and deregulation of trading hours on Boxing Day and Easter Sunday will clear on Tuesday when the Productivity Commission releases the findings of its review of the workplace relations framework.
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The proposed new statutory agreement would allow employers to vary an award for classes or groups of employees without having to negotiate with each party individually or to make an enterprise agreement.
Workers would no longer be able to terminate an individual contract after giving 28 days’ notice, but could be locked in for a minimum of 12 months under the Productivity Commission recommendations.
Employees could opt to exit the enterprise contract after one year and return to the standard award conditions without jeopardising their employment, the commission said.
“If you’re trying to cross-characterise it to a particular period in time, it’s not the same as some versions of AWAs because obviously AWAs, when they first came in, had a no-disadvantage test then subsequently they didn’t”.
“As a sector which employs more than 1.25 million Australians, the rebalancing of penalty rates to reflect the needs of the modern economy will mean retailers can create jobs to meet increased consumer demand, which in turn will benefit the economy more broadly”, she said.
While the Productivity Commission recognised that setting penalty rates was a matter for the Fair Work Commission, it suggested cutting the Sunday penalty rate back to the Saturday rate in retail, hospitality and other non-essential services.
But the mooted changes would safeguard penalty rates for nurses, police and other emergency workers.
The Australian says the government “has been briefed on the proposals, as realistic and achievable, supporting a case for industrial relations reform that it can take to the next election”.
Data from supermarkets showed while trading remains highest on Saturdays, Sunday trading was now exceeding some weekdays.
The ACTU said the WorkChoices-era Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) “saw workers given no choice but to sign unfair agreements that removed their rights and conditions”, and the new proposed agreements were even worse.
Adam Bandt from the Greens says any cuts to penalty rates will hurt young people in Australia.
“This is a pay cut for the thousands of Australians who work in restaurants, cafes and shops around the country”, ACTU secretary Dave Oliver told reporters in Canberra.
“[The] Productivity Commission now has recommended that we put the handbrake on increasing the minimum wage in this country at a time when the minimum wage is at an historic low”, he said.
“Personal care workers are among the most dependent of all workers on penalty rates, with 22 per cent of their take-home pay supplemented by shift penalties”, Ms Dabars said in a statement.
When the Federal Government announced the Productivity Commission review, the Minister for Employment, Eric Abetz, said the inquiry would ensure that workplace laws are “meeting their objectives and contributing to productive, rewarding, competitive and harmonious workplaces”.
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“These are draft recommendations and they would not seek to have any of them ruled out”, he said.
