For cutting penalty rates
Restaurant owner Matteo Pignatelli, of Matteo's in Fitzroy, said he was in favour of penalty rates but the difference between Saturday and Sunday rates meant he had to work every Sunday to save on employee costs. Equalising the rates would give him a day off and "reduce the losses".
John Kiely, a bar worker, is at risk of losing the weekend penalty rates he earns at his job. Credit: Wayne Taylor
"That is the only way you can do it. It would be great to have [a Sunday] off," he told Fairfax Media. "I would be able to spend more time with my family."
He would probably hire more staff, particularly university students who prefer to work on weekends, and spread out the number of Sunday shifts his salaried staff had to work.
Matteo Pignatelli, owner of Matteo's restaurant in Melbourne, is in favour of equalising Saturday and Sunday pay rates.
As for the sanctity of Sundays, this was old-fashioned. "I get more people asking for a Saturday off than a Sunday," he says. Usually this was because they want to attend sporting events or parties on Saturdays. Mr Pignatelli was also national president of Restaurant and Catering Australia, an industry association of owners and operators.
Casual waiters earn 1.25 times the normal rate on Saturdays and 1.75 times the normal rate on Sunday. A low-level waiter on a base rate earns about $18.50 per hour during regular business hours, about $23 per hour on Saturdays and $27.70 per hour on Sundays, a difference of $4.70 per hour. On public holidays they earn about $46.20 per hour.
Against penalty changes
Barman John Kiely, of Ferntree Gully, argues the people who usually work on Sundays were among the lowest paid in the country and could not afford to lose income. He believes businesses that want to open on Sundays should factor the higher cost of operations into their business model.
Matteo Pignatelli, owner of Matteo's in Fitzroy. Credit: arsineh@arsineh.com
He also disagrees with arguments that equalising Saturday and Sunday rates would boost employment.
"Bullshit. It will create more jobs. That is crap," Mr Kiely said.
He stands to lose $10 per hour under the proposed changes, which would see his hourly rate dropping from $35 to $25. However, he was more concerned for the young people who work alongside him at the Club Hotel, saying they would never be able to afford a house "in three lifetimes". Many worked "flat out" for $550 per week, including their Sunday penalties.
"I work with people around me and I see how they struggle, especially the ones married with kids, and they really do need the extra money … if we abolish the Sunday working rate down to a Saturday rate we are going to take another 100 bucks a week off them," Mr Kiely said.