RESTAURANTS & CAF?S CALL FOR FAIR GO ON PENALTY ...
Tuesday 1 May 2012
RESTAURANTS & CAF?S CALL FOR FAIR GO ON PENALTY RATES
Restaurants and cafes across the nation are calling for a new approach to penalty rates in an application lodged with Fair Work Australia.
As a result of the Modern Award system introduced by the Federal Government in 2009, the costs of employing staff in the hospitality sector are spiralling upwards at a rate that makes opening on weekends simply unaffordable for many small businesses.
NSW?s largest business organisation, NSW Business Chamber, in partnership with the Restaurant & Catering Australia, is spearheading the application.
The application proposes that employees under the Restaurant Industry Award 2010 should be paid standard award wages for the first five shifts in any week, and then attract penalty rates on the sixth and greater shifts over a seven day period.
?It?s time we had a mature debate about the community?s expectation of our hospitality industry. Customers expect near 24/7 service in a 21st century economy, but small business owners are being held back by a 19th century approach to wages,? said Stephen Cartwright, CEO of the NSW Business Chamber.
?Under this proposal, the sixth time someone gets out of bed and goes to work they will be paid a higher premium for their time regardless of the day. This removes the distortion for Saturdays and Sundays, and better rewards the commitment of employees to a business.
?We all know of examples where our favourite caf?s and restaurants are closed on Sundays. That?s because the owner simply can?t afford to pay staff penalty rates. Many actually lose money if they open for customers.
?A major cruise liner came into Sydney Harbour earlier this year. Passengers disembarked to have breakfast on a Sunday morning, and within half an hour most had returned to the ship because there were such limited options for dining in Sydney on a Sunday morning.
?It?s actually embarrassing that a global city like Sydney makes this impression on international tourists, let alone its own residents.
?The Federal Government?s inflexible approach to workplace regulation is slowly strangling the life out of small businesses; we have to change it before it does further damage to employment.
?I have no doubt that the Unions will be frothing at the mouth at any hint of dragging the nation?s workplace relations system into the modern world. But my message to them is to put their members first.
?The lure of penalty rates is meaningless for staff if a business can no longer afford to hire them.
?If the Government?s goal is take workplace relations back to the 1980s then it will also take us back to the days of the ghost town main streets on Sundays ? no businesses will be open and employment will suffer as a result,? Mr Cartwright said.
John Hart, CEO of Restaurant & Catering Australia said that penalty rates are pricing restaurants out of the market and threatening the employment prospects of workers.
?An award that adds 70% to a Saturday wage bill and 100% to an hourly rate on a Sunday is forcing many business owners to earn less than the minimum wage or simply close their doors,? Mr Hart said.
Mr Cartwright said it?s time the workplace relations system reflected the reality that the formerly sacrosanct view of weekends, particularly Sunday, is long dead.
?The restaurant industry?s core trading times predominately occur during weekends and weeknights. Accordingly, by imposing penalty rates on weekends and weeknights, the Award is currently penalising restaurants for trading in their core working hours.
?The challenge for businesses in the hospitality sector is that the prohibitive costs of employing staff during these periods are growing exponentially as a result of the modern award process. It is simply becoming unaffordable to be expected to pay staff penalty rates on a Sunday, retain the same prices for goods and services, and still make a profit.
?Caf? owners can?t simply double the prices they charge their customers in order to recoup their wages bill on a weekend.
?Weekend and night shift penalty rates have forced many restaurant and caf? owners to either close their businesses during peak trading times, or, alternatively, work in their businesses themselves in order to avoid prohibitive and penalising labour costs.
?Some owners are working seven days a week in their businesses. Both of these consequences have a negative impact upon the level of employment in the industry.
Mr Cartwright said he had been bombarded with real life examples of small businesses that were struggling to remain viable on weekends as a result of the prohibitive cost of employing staff.
?I?m particularly concerned about the effect of restricted employment opportunities on regional centres. I spoke to a caf? owner on the NSW North Coast who told me he opened on Sundays because his customers expected him to be open but he was making a financial loss as a result because of skyrocketing weekend wages. This is not a sustainable position for any business to operate in,? Mr Cartwright said.
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