Penalty rates blame-game: Coalition and Labor pin Sunday pay cut on each other

The Age
February 23, 2017

The Fair Work Commission's review of penalty rates was three years in the making but it was clear within minutes of its announcement that lowering Sunday pay was a major new political battleground.

Both sides of politics launched aggressive bids to blame their opponents for the decision to cut up to $5000 a year from the annual pay of some retail workers by lowering Sunday loadings.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said Opposition Leader Bill Shorten could not "escape responsibility for the outcome" because he instigated the review as workplace relations minister in the Gillard government.

"Any suggestion by Bill Shorten and the Labor Party that they do not accept this decision is highly hypocritical," she said.

"Bill Shorten needs to explain why he instigated a wide-ranging review of penalty rates if he does not support a change in penalty rates. Bill Shorten is responsible for establishing the framework that has led to today's decision. He cannot now escape responsibility for the outcome of this process."

Mr Shorten retaliated, claiming Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would be "pleased", having delivered for the business community.

He said it was the Turnbull government that called in the Productivity Commission to review penalty rates and its findings underpinned Thursday's decision.

"He has campaigned for this outcome for many years, whereas Labor was the only political party who submitted a case against the cutting of penalty rates," Mr Shorten said.

"What this will do is this will reallocate wages of working people in this country to business profits. This is not going to lead to a million people being employed. What this is going to do is it means for a shop assistant who currently works for 10 hours on a Sunday, they will have to work for 13.5 hours just to get the same money that they used to get. This won't lead to greater employment, it will lead to greater hardship."   

While business groups welcomed the streamlining of weekend rates, unions reacted with anger and dismay, calling on Mr Turnbull to intervene to prevent people losing pay.

ACTU president Ged Kearney said without a "severe" government intervention, a class of "working poor" would be created in Australia.   

"We are talking about people who don't earn a fortune. The retail industry made a very healthy operating profit last year. They can afford to pay people decently," she said.

"Malcolm Turnbull, as Prime Minister of this country, unless he acts immediately, will forever be remembered as the Prime Minister who oversaw an attack on the wages of the lowest-paid people in our economy."

Gerard Dwyer, national secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association, known as the "shoppies", said retail and fast-food workers would lose $1 billion a year.

Conservative Liberal backbencher Eric Abetz, who was employment minister under Tony Abbott, welcomed the decision, saying the commission had been "mugged by the realities" its previous determination not to adjust penalty rates has "cost jobs and investment in the hospitality, retail and tourism sectors".

Sydney Liberal Jason Falinski, a member of the moderate faction, tweeted that the decision was "good news for jobs and consumers - more jobs, more choice".

Greens industrial relations spokesman Adam Bandt said the party would attempt to use Parliament to avert the loss of Sunday rates, calling on Labor and the crossbenchers to unite on the issue.

"This cut in penalty rates is a cut in people's wages and it will hit young people especially hard. At a time when we are experiencing record-low wages growth, more people than ever depend on penalty rates to pay rent and bills," he said.

"Coffees won't get any cheaper on Sundays but young people will find it harder to pay the rent."   

The Australian Industry Group said many young people, particularly students, prefer to work on weekends and nights and traditional work hours have little relevance to industries like fast-food.

"In the fast-food industry, weekends and evenings are peak times. Regular business hours have little relevance to businesses in the fast-food industry and, therefore, penalty rates that were designed many decades ago around regular business hours need to be reset," said Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox.

"In the decision, the commission has recognised that existing Sunday penalty rates in the fast-food industry are not fair for employers and no longer relevant.

They can afford to open anyway.   

Vic wrote on Feb 24^th, 2017 at 6:51am:


Prices will drop and everybody will be rushing through the doors with less disposable income 

Jobsun grothe

Vic wrote on Feb 24^th, 2017 at 6:51am:



This is not good news for the charities that have their boxes on the cashiers' counters.

Armchair_Politician wrote on Feb 24^th, 2017 at 7:10am:



I still see Shorten as a champagne cork caricature from a Batman comic living in Gotham City.

According to the accounting on the news last night the reduction in weekend pay is not all that much.

Bam wrote on Feb 24^th, 2017 at 8:46am:


Absolutely correct.

I shot forward in my seat when some spin-doctoring apologist on TV was trying to slip this piece of nonsense across to us as a reasonable supposition.

The reduction in penalty rates is so minimal it will have absolutely nothing to do with hiring more staff or losing the staff they currently employ.

The ONLY change will be a more heavy emphasis on tipping the waiters to compensate for that slight drop in Sunday pay.

Lord Herbert wrote on Feb 24^th, 2017 at 8:42am:



Did the commission members take an equivalent percentage drop in their salary?  Oh - sorry - that's an entitlement... peasant wages are discretionary.......