Penalty rates key to survival in Bendigo

Bendigo students say they would struggle to pay the rent if Sunday penalty rates were slashed, as recommended in a report released on Monday. 

But local small businesses say the crippling cost means they can’t open on Sundays or employ more people. 

Emily Taylor, who works in retail at Bendigo Marketplace, said cutting her time-and-a-half Sunday penalty rate (175 per cent) to Saturday levels (125 per cent) would mean she could not afford rent. 

“To cut the Sunday penalty rate, that would cut my pay in half,” she said. 

“I’m studying nursing at TAFE, so I can only work on the weekend.

“My wage on a Sunday pays my rent … so I would have to move back home. I couldn’t afford to live out of home.”

Ms Taylor said she hoped there would be no changes to penalty rates, despite the Productivity Commission’s recommendations. 

Her chosen future career of nursing also relies on penalty rates to compensate workers for giving up family time to work asocial hours. 

But in the final report, the commission only suggested penalty rates should be cut back for the hospitality, retail and entertainment sectors and it did not make any recommendations for changes to night shift or overtime penalties. 

Robyn Agnoletto, of small business Folly and Jane in Bendigo, said she simply cannot open her retail store on Sundays with the current penalty rates. 

She said it was not worth employing a worker to open on Sundays at around $150 for three hours. If they did not make the sales, the business could not profit. 

Ms Agnoletto pointed out retail stores, unlike cafes and restaurants, could not apply a surcharge to their goods to cover the costs. 

But she said a key problem for small business and youth unemployment was not being able to employ school students for less than three hours. 

“I’d like to put them on after school, give them some training and experience, but I can’t because I can’t give them three hours work.”

She said it would be beneficial for high school students to work – even for an hour and a half after school – to earn some money, learn skills and still have time for homework.

A Bendigo Advertiser poll, published on Monday and closed at 5pm on Tuesday, December 22, found the majority of voters (62 per cent) voted “no” to changing Sunday penalties to match Saturdays. 

More than a third (34 per cent) voted in favour of a change.