Easter Penalty Rates Hit Accommodation Businesses

The accommodation industry is joining calls for reform of Australia’s industrial relations system, ahead of services in the industry being cut this Easter weekend due to excessive penalty rates.

The Accommodation Association of Australia said unless changes are made to the existing regime, visitors and staff will continue to lose out.

“Accommodation businesses – particularly those in regional and rural parts of Australia – are being hamstrung by the direct cost to operators of penalty rates,” said the Association’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Munro.

“While cafes, restaurants and retail businesses can choose to close this Easter weekend, accommodation businesses cannot, as they have to remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Instead, many bars and restaurants within accommodation businesses will be shut because it is unprofitable for them to open.

“This makes for a less-than-desirable reception for international visitors, while staff miss out on shifts.”

In some states and territories, the situation is worse than others.

“In NSW and Victoria, for example, all four days over Easter are classified as public holidays,” Mr Munro said.

“This means that casual staff who work on the four days across Easter will be paid the equivalent of 11 normal working days.

“This is a clear demonstration that current penalty rates are too high.

“The accommodation industry is not advocating for penalty rates to be abolished, rather for penalty rates to be set at a reasonable level to – among other things – attempt to ensure that Australia can compete with other low-cost international destinations which are on our doorstop.

“The tourism industry is Australia’s largest services export with excellent prospects for growth, however shutting down on public holidays due to penalty rates detracts from our product and jeopardises potential expansion.

“This will continue to be the case unless penalty rates are overhauled.”

Source : The Accommodation Industry of Australia   March 31st 2015