Pay rise for young retail workers

Employers have slammed a Fair Work ruling granting pay rises to thousands of young retail workers as out of touch given the recession.

Australian Retailers Associ­ation chief executive Paul Zahra expressed concern about the decision that he said would raise the cost of junior employment.

Thousands of young retail workers will have their pay increased by between $86 and $172 a week after a Fair Work Commission decision that has been slammed by employers as “out of touch” with the economic conditions facing businesses emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A commission full bench ruled that junior employee rates will no longer apply to retail workers employed at or above the level-four rate of the general retail award.

The decision means level-four or above workers younger than 21 will be paid the higher adult rate rather than a sliding lower rate.

Under the award, the full-time level-four weekly adult rate is $862.50, while a 20-year-old with less than six months’ experience receives $776.25 and a 19-year-old gets $690 a week.

The commission rejected a bid by the shop assistants union to have the adult rate applied to any worker above level one.

It said given the need to maintain a safety net of fair minimum wages, the level-four retail rate should align with the C10 manufacturing award rate to ensure the minimum wage rate for a tradesperson was set consistently across the award system.

The union told the commission 160,000 workers in the retail industry were younger than 21 and about 17000 were on classifications higher than level one. It estimates the decision will result in pay rises for 10,000 workers.

“The previous arrangements discriminated against both adult and junior workers,” said the union’s national secretary, Gerard Dwyer.

“Junior employees could be favoured over adults because of the lower rates. On the other hand, it discriminated against junior workers because they were doing the work of an adult and getting a lower rate of pay.”

But Australian Retailers Associ­ation chief executive Paul Zahra expressed concern about the decision that he said would raise the cost of junior employment as many retailers were fighting for survival. “We are in the first recession for almost three decades and it’s disappointing to see the Fair Work Commission continue to elevate the costs of employing staff,” he said.

“This unfortunately demonstrates the FWC are out of touch with the prevailing economic conditions facing retailers.”

He said the appearance of fairness veiled the reality that junior applicants would be left to fight for the same positions as more experience­d, adult employees, without the industry benefit of junior rates.

“Junior rates provide a proven benefit for young Australians seeking employment early in their lives, providing an incentive for retailers looking to give opportunitie­s to applicants which lack the training and experience of their established peers,” Mr Zahra said.

Meanwhile, the dispute at a Coles distribution centre in Sydney remains unresolved after the United Workers Union said on Wednesday it would take indefin­ite industrial action.

The Smeaton Grange workers had been locked out and the supermarket giant had put alternative delivery arrangements in place. The UWU is demanding 5.5 per cent annual pay rises and redundancy entitlements equivalent to up to two years’ pay.

Coles has offered annual wage rises of 3.5 per cent and offered to increase redundancy provis­ions from a maximum of 52 weeks’ pay to a maximum of 80 weeks’ pay for involuntary redundancies resulting from the expected closure of the site in 2023.

Coles chief operating officer Matt Swindells said “a rogue group of delegates” was pushing an unreasonable agenda.