Penalty rates and overtime have now been protected after Labor’s legislation passed through parliament. (Source: Getty)
The government’s legislation to protect penalty rates and overtime pay has passed through parliament. There has been an ongoing battle over proposed changes to the Fair Work Act, but Labor wanted to ensure these two payment benefits were protected for roughly 2.6 million workers.
One proposal suggested removing penalty rates and overtime in exchange for a 25 per cent higher base pay. But Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth said it was necessary to ensure those on certain awards get paid for working unsociable hours.
“If you work during hours when most Australians are spending time with family, you deserve fair compensation for the sacrifice you make to keep the country running,” she said.
“Penalty and overtime rates are not a bonus or a luxury.
“They are a core entitlement to help those important workers in our society who work weekends and overtime hours.”
The new law will ban employers from touching the two pay perks if it results in lowering the overall take-home pay for a worker.
There were fears that if this law wasn’t introduced, workers stood to lose $5,000 to $7,000 per year in entitlements.
The Business Council of Australia said businesses, particularly smaller ones, could be affected by the “populist policy” because they would be forced to maintain higher wages for staff.
The Council feared this cost could be passed on to consumers.
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Wages will differ depending on the worker’s contract, but they can earn time-and-a-half or even double time for working on a Sunday compared to a weekday.
That means a cafe worker could be pulling in up to $47.65 per hour if they had a shift on the final day of the week.
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary, Sally McManus, said getting this legislation passed was “essential” for the millions who relied on penalty rates and overtime pay to get by.
“They compensate people for working unsociable hours and giving up time away from family and loved ones,” she said.
“Protecting penalty rates also protects the weekend. The minute employers can pay people the same no matter the day they work, Australians can kiss goodbye the weekend.
“Without these laws, workers in retail, admin, banking, and finance would stand to lose thousands of dollars a year under proposals by big employer lobby groups.
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“Workers’ pay will no longer be at risk from employers engaging in a race to the bottom to strip away basic protections needed to maintain the services we all rely on.”
Shadow industrial relations and employment spokesman Tim Wilson was scathing of the legislation, and said it was just a way to embolden unions.
“Small businesses still don’t know how these rushed laws will impact them,” he said after the law passed the Senate.
“The minister has consistently refused to answer how many small businesses will be impacted because she does not know, because she has not done the work.”
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