Penalty rates: Fair Work Commission delays decision on cuts

Sunday penalty rates are unlikely to be cut before Christmas, the Fair Work Commission says.

Employers and workers are unlikely to learn the fate of weekend penalty rates before Christmas, the Fair Work Commission has confirmed.

The Commission is considering varying penalties under its four-yearly review of modern awards, amid intense debate over whether higher rates should be paid for Saturday and Sunday shifts.

Retailers union the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association and hospitality union United Voice sought “significant” changes to the timetable for the hearings after some employer groups submitted expert witness statements a week late.

This morning, the Commission made orders led by President Iain Ross stating that hearings from expert witnesses on the fate of the award will continue until late December.

Tony Abbott has stressed that penalty rates will be left to the industrial relations umpire after the Productivity Commission recommended pay for working on Saturday and Sunday be the same for workers in hospitality, restaurants and entertainment industries.

Unions have strongly rejected the proposal and demand no cuts to penalty rates.

Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Dave Oliver said last week: “The Abbott government needs to create jobs - not cut penalty rates and slash the wages of millions of Australians.”

In the employer group camp, Martin Ferguson, chair of Tourism Accommodation Australia, told The Australian that industrial relations reform was “critical for Australia’s transition to a services-based economy”.

“I don’t support abolishing penalty rates, but I do think there are premiums that should be reviewed,” he said.

“I hope the Fair Work Commission can do something. The way forward is for parties to be realistic. It’s about incremental progress, not putting your head in the sand, thinking that shift penalties that were relevant in the 1930s and 1940s are still relevant.”

The Full Bench of the Commission will hear submissions on the on hospitality and retail until December 18.