A decision to reduce some Sunday penalty rates – handed down by the Australian Fair Work Commission this week – is a “backward step” and removes an important signal that Australians want to keep at least one day a week free, says the Australian Christian Lobby.
The commission handed down a decision on Thursday reducing Sunday and public holiday penalty rates for some full and part-time workers in industries including the hospitality, retail, fast-food and pharmacy sectors. The decision, which was welcomed by many business groups, sparked an immediate response from the Australian Council of Trade Unions with ACTU president Ged Kearney describing it as an “attack” on the lowest paid people in the economy.
In a statement released this week, Lyle Shelton, the ACL managing director, says the penalty rates were introduced to “reflect the value Australians have always placed on maintaining a healthy work-family balance and provided a discouragement for businesses wishing to take workers away from family time”.
“For families to flourish, it is important that we do not treat workers as economic commodities but as human beings who contribute to society in many other ways including involvement in churches, sports or other community groups,” he said. “Surely we should incentivise rest, family, friends and worship and recognise our workers as people, not machines for a 24/7 economy.”
Mr Shelton said the notion of a weekly day of rest “for refreshment and family time” was one of the “greatest gifts Judaism and Christianity have given to our society”.
“We wander from these timeless truths at our peril. Sunday penalty rates send an important signal that we want to keep at least one day a week free, just to be. With many families now needing both parents to be working, weekends are more important than ever for family time. Not adequately compensating those people who miss out on valuable family life is a real tragedy.”
