SKIP TO MAIN CONTENT

Labor to protect penalty rates in law

A Shorten Labor government would restore penalty rates to hundreds of thousands of workers set to have them cut on July 1.

1 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Skip to article content

Bill Shorten has vowed to restore the Sunday penalty rates of every worker affected by the July 1 cuts.

Hundreds of thousands of Australia's lowest paid workers in the hospital, retail and fast food industries will start to see their weekend penalty rates cut from next week, under a decision of the independent Fair Work Commission.

The opposition leader told an ACTU conference in Sydney on Tuesday a Labor government would change the law to protect the take-home pay of workers.

"I promise you this: a new Labor government will restore the Sunday penalty rates of every single worker affected by this cut," Mr Shorten said.

Mr Shorten contrasted the cut with the tax break to be given by the Turnbull government to the highest income earners from July 1, following the axing of the "deficit levy".

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

The government argues the penalty rates decision was made independently and the minimum wage is due to rise by 3.3 per cent on July 1.


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world