Most people support penalty rates for working unsociable hours, poll shows
Eight out of 10 Australians believe those who work shifts or weekends should be given higher hourly pay, Essential poll finds
Nearly 70% of Coalition voters, and just over 90% of both Labor and
Greens voters, said people who work shifts or on weekends should be
given higher hourly pay. Photograph: Alan Porritt/AAP
Eight out of 10 Australians agree that people who work outside normal business hours should be paid higher rates, the latest Essential poll shows.
That number is the same as when the poll was taken in May 2013, before Labor lost power in the federal election.
Nearly 70% of Coalition voters, and just over 90% of both Labor and
Greens voters, said people who work shifts or on weekends should be
given higher hourly pay.
On the flipside, 23% of all respondents supported cutting penalty
rates for retail and hospitality workers. The suggestion was opposed by
68%.
This month employer Lindsay Partridge suggested that working outside business hours had become the norm so penalty rates no longer applied. Statistics show that more than two-thirds of workers still work Monday to Friday.
The Essential poll results come shortly after the Productivity
Commission released the terms of reference of a wide-ranging review of
industrial relations. The commission has until November to report back.
An earlier report by the commission released in September looked
specifically at the cost of doing business in Australia. It found that
regulations placed on the retail industry should be eased so retailers
could compete better with online shopping sites.
Retailers have long said higher wages would result in fewer jobs, and have called on the government to rethink penalty rates.
“The unions have got to understand that the more retailers get wage
pressures on them, the more they’re going to look at how they’re going
to reduce their costs,” head of the Australian Retailers Association,
Russell Zimmerman, said.
“The one thing you can do something about is your wages, and look at how you can employ less people,” he said.
But unions said wage growth was at its lowest since 1998, and that
many low-paid workers were struggling with the cost of living.
Tony Abbott has vowed not to change industrial relations laws in his
first term of government, amid warnings from Labor that he would
resurrect the electorally unpopular Work Choices legislation.
The Essential poll shows that Abbott’s approval rating is up five
points to 37%, while dissatisfaction with him is down two points to 53%.
The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has also had a small bounce in
the polls, with his approval rating up four points to 38%, and his
dissatisfaction rating down six points to 33%.
There has been little movement in the two-party preferred intentions,
with Labor up two points to 54%, and the Coalition down by the same
number to 46%.
That number is the same as when the poll was taken in May 2013, before Labor lost power in the federal election.
Nearly 70% of Coalition voters, and just over 90% of both Labor and
Greens voters, said people who work shifts or on weekends should be
given higher hourly pay.
On the flipside, 23% of all respondents supported cutting penalty
rates for retail and hospitality workers. The suggestion was opposed by
68%.
This month employer Lindsay Partridge suggested that working outside business hours had become the norm so penalty rates no longer applied. Statistics show that more than two-thirds of workers still work Monday to Friday.
The Essential poll results come shortly after the Productivity
Commission released the terms of reference of a wide-ranging review of
industrial relations. The commission has until November to report back.
An earlier report by the commission released in September looked
specifically at the cost of doing business in Australia. It found that
regulations placed on the retail industry should be eased so retailers
could compete better with online shopping sites.
Retailers have long said higher wages would result in fewer jobs, and have called on the government to rethink penalty rates.
“The unions have got to understand that the more retailers get wage
pressures on them, the more they’re going to look at how they’re going
to reduce their costs,” head of the Australian Retailers Association,
Russell Zimmerman, said.
“The one thing you can do something about is your wages, and look at how you can employ less people,” he said.
But unions said wage growth was at its lowest since 1998, and that
many low-paid workers were struggling with the cost of living.
Tony Abbott has vowed not to change industrial relations laws in his
first term of government, amid warnings from Labor that he would
resurrect the electorally unpopular Work Choices legislation.
The Essential poll shows that Abbott’s approval rating is up five
points to 37%, while dissatisfaction with him is down two points to 53%.
The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has also had a small bounce in
the polls, with his approval rating up four points to 38%, and his
dissatisfaction rating down six points to 33%.
There has been little movement in the two-party preferred intentions,
with Labor up two points to 54%, and the Coalition down by the same
number to 46%.
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