Penalty rates slashed in South Australia in union deal welcomed by Coalition
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Version 0 of 1. The industry minister, Ian Macfarlane, has welcomed a deal between the shop workers union and South Australian businesses to slash weekend and public holiday penalty rates for the state’s retail employees. Business SA said the agreement with the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association could be used to develop a template enterprise agreement that significantly reduces penalty rates for retailers at weekends and on public holidays. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Business SA said the agreement significantly reduced penalty rates at weekends and on public holidays, and was voluntary for both employer and employees. Business SA said the deal gives retailers a “viable option to make it easier to open and employ people on weekends and public holidays”. Macfarlane said he supported the agreement in principle. “I haven’t seen the detail, but we do need to improve our ability to service the needs of customers and if this is a step by the unions then I congratulate them for it,” he told ABC radio. The agreement is said to cut penalty rates for Sundays from 100% loading to 50%, and reduces them on public holidays from 150% to 100%. Penalty rates will also be abolished on Saturdays and weekday evenings. The deal, which applies to small business and up to 40,000 workers across the state, gives employees a guaranteed 3% annual pay rise and the right to refuse to work at the weekend, while permanent workers get the right to take every second weekend off. Macfarlane said the retail sector was competing with the internet, which never closed. “The internet is 24/7, people do want to shop when they see something they like, and if they walk past a shop and it’s closed whether it’s a Saturday afternoon, or a Sunday or a public holiday, they simply get that item up on their phone and order it,” he said. He said workers in the retail and entertainment sectors needed to understand we are “now living in a 24/7 society”. “The retail sector will have to react to the competition that is coming from the internet,” he said. SDA South Australian secretary Peter Malinauskas said the union was ready to negotiate on wages and conditions “providing it doesn’t leave workers worse off”. Asked if he expected the deal could be mirrored in other states, Malinauskas said it was up to individual employer organisations to discuss it with union representatives. |