The joy of a Sunday sleep-in is something Phil Spagnuolo has almost forgotten.
The university student studies during the week, and like tens of thousands of others, works out of hours and on weekends to make ends meet.
But that’s now set to change, thanks to a landmark South Australian retail sector deal that slashes penalty rates but delivers workers higher wages and more flexibility with their shifts.
Instead of pricing shirts in a city sports store, Mr Spagnuolo thinks he’ll be able to afford a Sunday brunch.
“Instead of always have my weekends booked out for working, I know I’m going to have that higher pay rate across the board, so I’m going to be more flexible during the week and it’s going to allow me to free up my weekends.”
His boss, former AFL football star Rhett Biglands, owns two Nike stores and manages more than dozen staff.
“It just results in flexibility with more opening hours, more hours for staff and the consumer in the end gets to shop more often and have more flexibility with their social life.”
“Some of our uni students just work flat out and have no social life because they have to work on Sundays – they’ll now be able to time-manage and work better throughout Monday to Fridays and get some social life back.”
Heralded as a win-win that cuts business costs without harming workers’ wages, it sets a national precedent that could transform Australia's workplace relations.
"It just results in flexibility with more opening hours, more hours for staff and the consumer in the end gets to shop more often and have more flexibility with their social life."
The deal helps business by abolishing Saturday and evening penalty rates, halving the current penalty rates for Sunday, and reducing public holiday penalties from double-time-and-a-half, back to double time.
In return workers will receive higher-than-award wages totalling an extra $60 a week, an annual three per cent pay rise, the right to refuse Sunday and public holiday work, and every second weekend off.
The template agreement between Business SA and the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association covers about two-thirds of the small and medium retail sector, employing about 40,000 workers.
The SDA is Australia’s largest worker organisation; the secretary of the South Australian branch Peter Malinauskas is the brains behind the deal.
“It demonstrates that the existing fair work act allows employers to negotiate with unions and employees to deliver outcomes that are potentially beneficial for both the employer and employees.”
“We think that is a real step forward in the right direction on behalf of the business community, which otherwise up until this point have simply been advocating that penalty rates should be slashed or abolished without giving anything to employees in return.”
The federal government has asked the Productivity Commission to examine the workplace relations framework, including penalty rates – Peter Malinauskas says this deal shows the review is unnecessary because the Fair Work Act is clearly delivering mutually beneficial outcomes.
“This agreement demonstrates that the approach that the Abbott government have been supporting of trying to cut workers’ entitlements, cut workers’ penalty rates without giving them anything in return is wrong. This demonstrates that the Abbott government should stop its aggressive Industrial Relations agenda and instead allow the current system to work.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by South Australian Labor frontbencher Mark Butler, himself a former union leader.
“This is what we envisaged when Paul Keating’s government put together the enterprise bargaining model more than 20 years ago - and it’s in stark contrast to the idea that you could go up to the industrial commission and try unilaterally to change penalty rates across the country.”
Kate Carnell, the Chief Executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says the deal could be a boost for the struggling retail sector.
“It doesn't get rid of penalty rates, they're still there. But it significantly reduces and helps those small businesses open the hours that their customers want them there. For small businesses to be able to compete they need to be open. To be open they need to be able to afford staff. And that's what this is about.”
There’s been a mixed response from federal MPs.
Independent motoring enthusiast Party crossbencher Ricky Muir expressed concern about any cuts to penalty rates.
"I'm a supporter of penalty rates, I've been a beneficiary of penalty rates. And I certainly didn’t work into weekends or afternoon shifts, where I didn’t get to spend time with my family and children, for the love of the job. I did it to actually try to get ahead in life.”
But others like Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm back the bold new approach.
“Cutting the weekend penalty rates in SA is great news, fantastic news. Bob Day (SA Family First Senator) and I have been banging on about this for months. It is just ridiculous that people who want to work on weekends are priced out of the market by silly rules. It is great news.”
Independent South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon says the deal recognises a social reality.
“It’s always been my position that there needs to be greater flexibility for small employers, that in hospitality and retail Saturdays and Sundays are pretty much ordinary trading days.”
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane says the deal is a step forward.
The new system will be voluntary for workers and employers.
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