How penalty rate cuts will affect you
Yesterday, the Government controversially announced it would be cutting penalty rates for employees working on Sundays. Thousands of retail, hospital and fast-food workers will be affected by the cuts, and they won’t be the only ones.
Many initially believed that the changes would lead to the 10 per cent (give or take) Sunday surcharge that many cafes and restaurants enforce in order to make up for the money lost paying staff up to double time and a half may be coming to an end. But, before you start celebrating, this may not be the case.
“To be honest, the rates going down won’t alleviate the need for a surcharge on public holiday,” Restaurant and Catering Australia CEO John Hart told news.com.au. He claims that even if the surcharges were scrapped, it would still not meet the costs of paying hospitality staff.
Full- and part-time workers will still be receiving 150 per cent pay (down from 175 per cent) and casuals will receive 225 per cent (down from 250 per cent). Casuals, however, will still earn 250 per cent pay on public holidays. While it mightn’t sound like a huge decline, it could be crippling for students, singles, single-parents and young families, meaning, in some cases, a $35 difference for a single shift.
“At 225 per cent (on a public holiday), you’re still paying more than double time,” Hart added. “As it stands at the moment, wages are nearly 50 per cent of turnover. Even with these changes you’re still in a place where there is an extraordinary amount of additional cost, which isn’t met by any sort of surcharges.”
What do you think about the penalty rate cuts? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
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