Melissa Price has urged Fair Work Commission to streamline penalty rates by creating a single rate for Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A federal Liberal MP has written to the workplace umpire urging it to consider streamlining penalty rates so the same amount is paid for Saturday, Sunday and public holiday work.

Melissa Price, who represents the Western Australian seat of Durack, criticised the “complex” existing rules in a submission to the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which is reviewing penalty rates in hospitality and retail awards.

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The Productivity Commission’s report on the workplace relations system also recommended bringing Sunday rates into line with Saturday ones in those industries, triggering a renewed political dispute over the plight of low-paid workers who rely on the top-up for working unsociable hours.

The Turnbull government has repeatedly played down suggestions it would actively cut penalty rates, saying the independent FWC remained responsible for ruling on employers’ requests.

But Price said many small businesses in her electorate experienced the impact of penalty rates on their profitability, and many retail and hospitality firms did not open on a Sunday or public holiday due to increased wage costs.

“I met with some small business owners from Geraldton to discuss issues they face and a common concern was the complex penalty rate system for employees,” she wrote in her submission.

“During my meeting, the argument presented was that the current penalty rates for employees offers a very complicated system that often acts as a deterrent to employers. I believe many small business owners in Durack consider that by having so many tiers of penalty rates it dictates employers’ opening times not only on the basis of demand but also on the variation in cost.”

Price said a successful small business owner in Geraldton had proposed “a change from the current multi-tiered penalty rate system to a two-tiered penalty rate system; one rate for normal hours, deemed acceptable, and then a rate for non-standard hours, including public holidays”.

“I believe that this has merit and would result in an increase in business opening hours and therefore employment in Durack,” she wrote.

“I respectfully ask you to consider the above proposal as part of the penalty rate debate and I look forward to your response.”

The FWC, which is required to review modern awards every four years, plans to hold a five-day hearing to resolve the long-running penalty rates case in April.

Unions are fighting proposals to scale back penalty rates, arguing they were a crucial part of the “fair and relevant minimum safety net of terms of conditions” referred to in the Fair Work Act.

“Current penalty rates appropriately recognise the value that employees employed under the retail group awards and the community, including employers, place on weekends and public holidays,” the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association said in its submission.

“Penalty rates comprise a substantial proportion of the overall earnings of employees employed under the retail group awards. Many of the households in which employees employed under the retail group awards reside have low living standards and find it difficult to secure the financial resources necessary to meet the cost of living.”

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The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, has been campaigning against cuts to penalty rates during his planned three-week tour of marginal electorates.

“Now is the time to make sure that we don’t undermine confidence by going after people’s penalty rates, by talking about increasing the GST to 15%,” he said last week.

The government has yet to decide the details of a workplace relations policy to take to this year’s election, but has been at pains to say it would maintain a hands-off approach to penalty rates.

“Why would the government set penalty rates?” the employment minister, Michaelia Cash, asked last month.

“It’s like asking the government to set interest rates? It is not something you want your government doing. You want that left to an independent body, and that is the position of the government.”

There is currently a procedural dispute between some industry groups and unions over whether the Productivity Commission’s report, released last month, can be tendered as evidence in the FWC’s penalty rates case.

