FWC lowers some penalty rates
A majority judgment by the full bench of the Fair Work Commission means that the loading for working on Sundays will drop from 75 to 50 per cent for some casual workers from July. The decision applies only to the two lowest grades of employees in a restaurant, bar or café.
Restaurant & Catering Australia chief executive John Hart said that some businesses now shut on Sundays could consider re-opening – estimating that businesses would save $112 million each year.
Mr Hart acknowledged the decision would affect between 30,000 and 40,000 workers across the country.
According to the majority judgment, the commission accepted that some businesses would be more likely to hire staff if wages were lowered.
But it rejected the argument by the restaurant and catering industry that, for casual workers, working on Sundays was no different to working on Saturdays as it “involves a loss of a day of family time and personal interaction upon which special emphasis is placed by Australian society”.
The commission’s vice-president Graeme Watson and commissioner Michael Roberts maintained the Sunday loading should reduce by only 20 per cent, staged until January 2015.
Acting national secretary of United Voice, David O’Byrne, that the decision risked creating an underclass of lower-paid workers. “Food and beverage attendants classified as grades one or two were often new to the industry, more vulnerable than experienced workers, and often women. As a result of the decision, these employees will receive a lower loading on Sundays than employees on higher grades.”
