The government is pushing ahead with a suite of industrial relation reforms in 2021, which it states will help get the economy back on track post the COVID-19 recession.
As part of these reforms, the government will seek provisions that will allow distressed industries employers to pay a ‘loaded rate’, a higher hourly rate, instead of penalty rates over the public holidays.
However, the opposition has hit out at the government, claiming that workers are set to lose up to $1,100 in holiday penalty rates if they worked Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve and Australia Day alone.
“Millions of workers across the economy are vulnerable to attack under Mr Morrison’s nasty industrial relations changes,” Labor industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke said.
“From cleaners to miners, aged care workers to waiters, checkout operators to nurses – all could take a massive pay cut if Mr Morrison is successful in suspending the Better Off Overall Test.”
The Minister said that under the proposal, workers who helped get Australia through the pandemic, including essential workers, would be the same people that would lose their pay under the changes.
Mr Burke said banking, finance or insurance industry workers could lose $1,170 over the Christmas period.
His calculations show healthcare workers, including a typical aged care worker, could lose $1,080 and $890, respectively.
“If you abolish something called the Better Off Overall Test, guess what will happen: workers will be worse off.”
“Scott Morrison’s earlier penalty rate cuts for retail, fast food, pharmacy and hospitality workers failed to deliver a single extra job. But now, they want us to believe that cutting more penalty rates, cutting overtime, cutting shift loading, cutting allowances will create jobs,” he continued.
“Pay cuts are bad for workers and bad for the economy. For Australia to recover from the recession, we need people with the money and confidence to spend,” he said.
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