Chamber welcomes penalty rate cuts

The Peninsula Chamber of Commerce welcomed the decision by the Fair Work Commission to cut some penalty rates, particularly on Sundays, after the Commission's decision was handed down last week.

"There has been a long held belief that penalty rates particularly on weekends has been a significant impediment to small business especially in the hospitality and retail sectors," said Chamber president, Mr Matthew Wales.

"In many cases, penalty rates have caused some Peninsula businesses to limit their opening hours and in some cases, not open at all on weekends and particularly Sundays.

"This has been a brake on part-time and casual employment and created missed opportunities for businesses who have struggled with wages bills," said Mr Wales.

"Whilst we acknowledge that the Fair Work Commission decision will impact on some employee wages, we genuinely believe that the reduction in penalty rates will create more job opportunities, encourage businesses to extend trading hours and generally improve the bottom line for hard working small business operators.

"The penalty rates changes are quite modest but will allow employers to hire more staff and, in the case of many hospitality venues, encourage these to operate on Sundays.

"The hospitality and retail sectors are tough at the best of times so rationalising penalty rates will be welcome by many small businesses across the Peninsula who have been burdened by the high cost of wages," said Mr Wales.

"We want our local businesses to be successful and we also want them to open over weekends and employ more people.

"This is a fair and reasonable decision and we welcome the benefits it will bring to local business operators," Mr Wales said.

Media release, 23 Feb 2017

Matthew Wales, Peninsula Chamber of Commerce