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Slashing Sunday penalty rates will create thousands of jobs, peak industry lobby group says
Scrapping Sunday penalty rates in favour of a flat weekend rate could create up to 40,000 jobs nationally and up to 2,800 in South Australia alone, research commissioned by Restaurant and Catering Australia has found.
The research found just over half of the businesses surveyed that were already closed on Sunday would consider reopening if the weekend rate was introduced.
Restaurant and Catering Australia launched its employment campaign in Adelaide today.
CEO John Hart said Adelaide's unemployed youth stood to benefit from the campaign.
"This sort of very simple reform will solve the youth unemployment problem [and] Adelaide is a hotbed of youth unemployment," he said.
"We know the job creation numbers are real.
"We know that this change will create an extra four jobs in a business that's a big business, and two jobs in every business that's a small business."
Mr Hart said there were currently 12 different weekend rates for restaurants and cafes, which Restaurant and Catering Australia hoped to reduce down to one.
He said by doing so, more businesses would employ more staff for longer.
"What they will do when the weekend rate is flattened is they'll employ more people for more hours," he said.
"Those people who are currently working on a Sunday are likely to get more hours out of this.
"It won't mean they'll take home less pay - they might just have to work an extra hour."
The productivity commission has already looked into the issue of weekend penalty rates.
It handed down its draft findings earlier this month recommending Sunday rates be cut to the same rate as Saturday rates, as well as the proposal of a new type of workplace agreement.
But the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said the proposed changes were an attack on Australia's lowest paid workers.
"When you earn around $50,000, $45,000, $40,000, even with all your penalty rates you cannot afford a pay cut," ACTU president Ged Kearney said.
"This is basically what it boils down to, so we will argue vehemently against giving the lowest paid people in this country a pay cut."
Despite the new research released by Restaurant and Catering Australia, Ms Kearney was not convinced there was any good data to support the claim that a cut to weekend rates would generate more jobs and extra hours.
"Any cuts to penalty rates no matter if they're from Sunday or Saturday or from evening is a cut in pay to the lowest paid people in this country," she said.
"There's no evidence which shows cutting penalty rates will create jobs, none whatsoever.
"In fact all the evidence shows it doesn't."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has already backed the push for changing weekend rates, but has hinted at waiting until after the next election before pushing the issue any further.
Restaurant and Catering Australia said with or without government support, it would be looking to make its case before the Fair Work Commission, the body which will ultimately decide if the Sunday rate will be scrapped.
The Fair Work Commission declined to comment, but a spokesperson said the award covering penalty rates is currently being reviewed as per its obligations under the act.
Source: ABC News, Nathan Stitt, 2nd September 2015
Originally published as: Slashing Sunday penalty rates will create thousands of jobs, peak industry lobby group says
