Retail Workplace Rights Under Attack
SDA lodges in Fair Work Commission to stop unfair attacks on retail workplace rights
The Australian Retailers Association has launched a serious attack on workplace rights through its application to change the General Retail Industry Award (Retail Award) in a Fair Work Commission review.
The SDA is opposing every unfair and unreasonable change outlined in the application and submitted our arguments to the Fair Work Commission today.
The Retail Award sets out the minimum pay and entitlements for the retail industry and the SDA works hard to not only protect but also improve the workplace conditions in this Award.
Any detrimental changes to the Retail Award have negative consequences when it comes to negotiating your next Enterprise Agreement.
The Australian Retailers Association proposal is backed by major retailers and other business groups and threatens to wind back fundamental workplace rights in the Retail Award.
The ARA application to the Fair Work Commission includes:
- Removing the requirement for rest and meal breaks to be on your roster
- Giving employers the right to ask workers to be more ‘flexible’ with their breaks including having to take their breaks at the first or last hour of their shift or combining their rest and meal break
- Changing the break entitlement so that workers can be asked to work up to 6 hours without a meal break
- Removing penalty rates, overtime, rostering protections and leave loading for salaried employees in exchange for flat 25% on top of the Award rate
- This could apply to supervisors, department managers or tradespeople who are not senior management.
A flat rate of 25% is not an accurate reflection of the hours and rosters that could be worked by a salaried employee. The SDA believes each individual employee should have their salary calculated on all penalties and overtime to ensure they are correctly and fully compensated.
This attack on penalty rates for salaried employees puts penalty rates for all retail workers at risk.
- Reducing the break between shifts from 12 hours to 10 hours and increasing shift lengths to 10 hours (up from 9 hours).
- Part time workers could be required to work days continuously over an extended period of time. For example, a part time employee could be required to work 30 days in a row as there are no protections in place.
- Part time workers would have no right to consecutive days off in a week or fortnight.
- Part time workers would have no right to one Sunday off in a four week cycle.
- No limit on the number of days in a 4 week period a part time worker could be required to work, this could result in a part time employee working 28 days in 28 days.
- Removing overtime for permanent workers on weekly maximum hours to instead average these over six months
All of these proposed changes eat away at the rights retail workers have to breaks and work life balance outside of work.
These are important entitlements that protect your health and safety including your mental health.
SDA arguing against unfair changes to the Retail Award in Fair Work Commission
A Fair Work Commission hearing is set for March 2025.
Breaks, breaks between shifts, penalty rates, overtime – they all provide workers with decent wages and a healthy, safe and fair workplace.
Retail workers are not robots and attacks on their pay and their rights must be stopped.
The SDA understands that retail workers do not want to work around the clock without breaks or time off to spend with family or friends. You also deserve to be fairly compensated if you’re working unsociable hours.
That’s why we are doing everything we can to stop this in the Fair Work Commission.
You can download our Submission below:
What can you do?
Don’t let big business lobby groups get away with this.
We’ve worked hard to improve the pay, rights and working conditions of retail workers but now they’re at risk.
Don’t risk your breaks at work. Don’t risk your penalty rates. Don’t risk your rights at work going backwards.
Now is the time to ask your co-workers to join the SDA and help us stop these attacks on your rights at work. They can join online at SDA Union | Join the SDA.
We will continue to keep you updated throughout this process.