Election 2025: Labor to legislate protections for penalty rates if re-elected

A re-elected Labor government would legislate protections for penalty rates in a move that could cement higher wages for about three million workers.

Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt. Picture: John Gass

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A re-elected Labor government would legislate protections for penalty rates in a move that could cement higher wages for about three million workers.

Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt will announce on Saturday that a re-elected Labor government would legislate to protect penalty rates in awards, saying on ­Friday that weekends were ­“special times”.

“That’s when we gather with our families, have weddings, birthdays and hold grand finals,” he said. “So if you have to work during those times, we think you deserve to be rewarded for that.

“We will introduce legislation to ensure workers don’t have their pay cut and their penalty rates are protected.

“We will always stand with workers to protect their wages so that we can help them deal with the pressures of today and get ahead in the future.”

It follows months of ­wrangling between the federal government and businesses, particularly supermarket chains, over the rates.

In January, in a submission to a Fair Work Commission ­review, the Australian Retailers Association proposed allowing some staff to opt out of penalty rates, overtime, some allowances and rostering arrangements in favour of a 25 per cent pay rise.

Coles, Woolworths, Kmart and Costco in February joined the push, which would apply to level four to six roles, where employees earn between $53,670 and $61,958.

But Mr Watt opposed the move, filing a submission that ­argued it risked entitlements for some of the 353,200 employees covered by the country’s most common award.

“We’re hardly going to stand by when we see big business representatives, some of the biggest retailers in the country like Coles and Woolies, try to slash the penalty rates of some of the lowest-paid workers,” he said.

In March, in a submission to that same commission, the Australian Industry Group pushed to exempt millions of IT, administrative and finance workers from penalty rates and overtime in return for a salary increase.