Retailers have warned they may have to slash their workers' hours or put a freeze on hiring new staff after the national minimum wage was hiked up $15.80 per week.
Russell Zimmerman from the Australian Retailers Association said the 2.4 per cent wage increase announced by the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday was double what his members were hoping for, and far higher than many could afford.
"This is a big problem for the industry and unfortunately I think retailers will have to look at their payrolls and may well have to decide whether they can reduce hours even further," Mr Zimmerman told AAP in Sydney.
"Certainly what it will do is make sure that no more people are employed at the moment ... that's a very sad state of affairs for the industry."
Mr Zimmerman said the industry was only experiencing around 3.6 per cent annual growth, with some states languishing far behind on as little as 0.9 per cent.
"If you've a large workforce, say 1000 people, and you've got a (wage) increase of around $17.70 per week, that's a big slug on your wage bill," he said.
"When you're looking at an industry that's struggling to maintain its numbers this is not a good outcome, really."
