Casual staff at sports club given 72 hours to sign contracts that eliminated all penalty rates

A COMPANY has sacked workers who refused to sign last-minute contracts that would have eliminated penalty rates and left them worse off.

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A BRISBANE company has sacked workers who have refused to sign last-minute contracts that cut all penalty rates.

Casual staff at Capalaba Sports Club were given 72 hours to sign an agreement after attending a meeting in May.

The new agreement, framed by Melbourne based workforce company Hospitality X, was approved by the Fair Work Commission and is legal.

It is understood the group was told Saturdays and Sundays were “just like any other day of the week” and staff would be paid accordingly.

The move has left unions concerned for the fate of other casual employees as the Productivity Commission handed down its industrial relations draft report this month.

PENALTY RATES: The case for and against

Samarah Wilson, 20, had worked at the Capalaba Sports Club for 18 months and said the meeting was like a “punch in the face”.

“I couldn’t afford to take a $5000 annual hit while maintaining the same hours and what we were being asked to do was really unfair, so I didn’t agree to it,” Ms Wilson said.

Samarah Wilson and Claudia Rogers were shocked by the ultimatum facing them over their jobs at Capalaba Sports Club. PIC: Mark Calleja

“We had no notice at all which was really intimidating and there wasn’t even enough time to come up with some questions to ask them.”

Ms Wilson refused to sign the agreement and lost her job that week.

Claudia Rogers, 21, stayed on at the club but was forced to work an extra job while studying fulltime at university.

“I live out of home and had to support myself so the new agreement cut $300 a week from my income,” Ms Rogers said.

“I failed two of my subjects from the financial stress they placed me under.”

Hospitality X enforced the new industrial agreement allowing Capalaba Sports Club general manager Nigel de Ryck to state “no staff were sacked by the club”.

“The club puts the highest value on its employees’ welfare and has confirmed that all of Hospitality X’s workers are on contracts that are fair and meet all relevant regulations,” Mr de Ryck said.

United Voice organising co-ordinator Damien Davie said Hospitality X had deviously “sidestepped” the issue of fair pay and penalty rates.

“It’s unfortunate that Capalaba Sports Club has seen it fit to sign up to such an immoral process where it has ripped up to $300 from young workers a week,” Mr Davie said. “They are a not-for-profit community club with a social contract with the community and there is no doubt that what they have done is immoral.”

Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Brendan O’Connor said many people relied on penalty rates to make ends meets.

“The community agrees that people who work unsociable hours deserve penalty rates to make up for missing time with family,” he said.

He said the Government refused to “rule out cutting penalty rates for people who work in hospitality, retail and entertainment”.

Capalaba Sports Club told a meeting of casual staff in May that they would be shifted to an “external workforce management company” called Hospitality X.

The company, based in Melbourne, provided staff with a new industrial agreement stripping all penalty rate entitlements – staff were given just 72 hours to read and agree to the terms or risk losing their jobs.

The move came after Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey instructed the Productivity Commission to investigate workplace relations frameworks last year.

The Commission’s draft report, released this month, recommended changes such as aligning Sunday rates to Saturday rates in the hospitality, entertainment and retail industries.

Originally published as Casual staff at sports club given 72 hours to sign contracts that eliminated all penalty rates