Tony Abbott is under pressure from his backbench to do something about ''job killing'' weekend and holiday penalty rates, with 10 Coalition MPs telling Fairfax Media the controversial issue could not be ignored.

But the cabinet, which in private still talks bitterly about the damage caused by the Howard government's WorkChoices policy, is determined to keep its pre-election promise not to touch penalty rates in its first term.

Hoping to placate fears that he wanted the Productivity Commission to review penalties - following a report by Fairfax Media on a leaked government document - Employment Minister Eric Abetz said the Coalition had no immediate plans.

''I can confirm that in absolutely no iteration of the terms of reference has the issue of penalty rates or union militancy been mentioned,'' Mr Abetz said.

But the Employment Minister went on to concede that the terms of reference for the Productivity Commission's review of workplace laws were deliberately broad enough to cover ''a full and thorough analysis of all aspects of the Fair Work Act''. And the draft terms of reference explicitly mention ''pay and conditions'' and ''industrial conflict'' - which is widely understood to include penalty rates and union militancy.