‘Wrong time’: Retailers slam penalty rates increase for casuals

Casual retail workers who clock on after 6pm on weeknights and on Saturdays have won a penalty rate increase, prompting warnings retailers will be forced to scale back hiring plans over the crucial Christmas trading period.
The Fair Work Commission’s four-yearly review of the General Retailing Industry Award agreed with the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) that retail casuals deserved a boost for working unsociable hours from November.
But Australian Retailers’ Association executive director Russell Zimmerman says is “not at all a good decision” ahead of Christmas trading.
The SDA lodged a review of casual pay rates under the retail award in 2015, arguing that anomalies left casuals worse off than full-time retail workers when they worked late nights or Saturdays. Sydney Morning Herald – Read more…