Public holidays having huge impact on accommodations sector
Penalty rates will have a big impact across Sydney's hotel accommodation industry on Anzac Day – the fifth public holiday in the last four weeks.
More than 65% of respondents to a recent Tourism Accommodation Australia NSW survey indicated the Easter holidays impacted business negatively, while almost 60% of hotels said the public holiday penalty rates saw a reduction in services offered (with restaurant services the most heavily impacted).
"Penalty rates had a big impact across Sydney's hotel accommodation industry on the Easter long weekend, with over half the major hotels closing their restaurants for lunch or dinner due to rising labour costs over the four day period," TAA NSW director Carol Giuseppi said.
"High wage costs over the holiday period meant that even those hotels that did open their restaurants, lost money. Double time and a half rates on public holidays in particular are compromising the services our hotels offer, in particular in comparison to our international counterparts.
"And we can expect a similar experience tomorrow – the fifth public holiday to hit the industry in four weeks."
Ms Giuseppi said there was a real need for change to the penalty rates structure so hotels can operate with full services on public holidays.
"The 24/7 nature of the industry means that most hours worked in the business are at night and on weekends," she said.
"The inflation of costs over the Easter and Anzac period makes hotel operations unprofitable and results in reduced services for visitors. It also impacts employees keen to maximise their hours as most hotels operate with minimal staffing.
"There is an urgent need for the Federal Government to review the penalty rates structure. There needs to be more recognition that a "normal" working week in the hospitality industry is not 'normal' by other industry standards. If hotels are to operate profitably and attract investment there needs to be a revised industry-wide wage and penalty rate structure that is more flexible."
The accommodation industry in NSW is a significant employer, directly supporting 23,600 jobs (with Sydney contributing approximately 60% of those jobs) and 41,546 jobs through flow-on impacts.
The Australian Fair Pay Commission identified that wages amount to 24 per cent of total expenses in the hospitality industry compared to the average across all industries of 15.8%. Therefore the relative wage costs for Sydney hotels are nearly 52 per cent higher than the average Australian business.
Source: Tourism Accommodation Australia, 24 April 2013
