Industry body the National Retail Association (NRA) has joined forces with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to demand a reform of the modern retail award.
The NRA, with support from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has conducted and released a survey which demonstrates the negative impact of costly penalty rates on retail businesses.
According to the survey, penalty rates are forcing up to one third of retail businesses to close their doors on public holidays and employers are being forced to deny workers requesting shorter shifts.
Additionally, the survey suggests that 45 per cent of businesses pay above-award rates and 90 per cent have a staff discount plan in place.
However, 30 per cent of businesses reported that they were forced to close their doors when customers were out shopping on public holidays because they simply could not afford to pay the required rates.
NRA CEO Trevor Evans said the results showed the need for urgent reform of the modern retail award.
“We saw recently on the Easter long weekend that thousands of retail businesses – from clothing shops to cafes – closed their doors to potential shoppers because of the cost of labour.
“It’s simply naïve to argue that the workers involved needed the penalty rates to make ends meet, when they are simply missing out. Rather than being able to work and earn money, they instead achieved double time of nothing,” he said.
The survey also showed that 30 per cent of businesses had received requests from employees wanting to work less than the minimum three-hour shift.
However, employers who could offer shorter shifts to those who wanted them were being denied the opportunity to do so.
Evans added that there was no good reason for the law to dictate how long employees could work, particularly in an industry where casual work is common.
“There is simply no good reason for the government to dictate to workers and employers how long casual workers should be forced to work,” Evans said.
“Again, it is nonsensical to argue that workers will be worse off if the three-hour minimum was removed, when there are clearly jobs going begging because of that limit.
“If an employer is able to offer two hours’ work each afternoon and a university student it willing to take it, why should the law prevent them from reaching an agreement?
“These results underline the need for urgent reform of the Fair Work Act, which should be helping to generate employment but in reality is acting as a brake on jobs and prosperity in this nation."
Survey participants
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155 businesses participated in the survey. 60.78 per cent of participants were small businesses with 19 or fewer employees. The next highest category was medium businesses with between 20 and 199 employees at 22.22 per cent. The remaining 16.99 per cent of participants were large business with 200 or more employees.
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More than 40 per cent of participants operated a café, fast food or specialty food business. The other 60 per cent of participants were spread through other discretionary categories of retail such as electronics, hardware, clothing, footwear and accessories, books and newspapers, department stores, recreational goods, pharmacy and cosmetics, furniture, textiles and homewares and liquor retail. No survey participants came from the grocery/ supermarket category.
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Almost 70 per cent of participating employers operated under the terms of either the General Retail Industry Award 2010 or the Fast Food Industry Award 2010.