Toni, you're missing the point. The article specifically points out that many businesses now close on these days due to costs, if they reopen that's where the extra jobs will come from.

The other victim of penalty rate hikes are mums, as many no longer have those WE shifts to rely on because the rates have made them unaffordable.

Of cause as usual our lawmakers will no doubt stuff it up, onevsuch example being that they should also make sure places don't all of a sudden open on Sundays then close on a week day. I bet they wouldn't consider that.

Open on a Sunday and close on a weekday is a cop out, that is the sort of thing that makes employers not the most trusted persons.

You are not supposed to take advantage of younger persons or any body else. To much of that getting around discussion will be dropped.

The employer is not to be advantaged at the expense of workers

doog,

Many big name petrol stations are now opening 24/7, and people are working in these stations, in what I would call ridiculous environments and hours, in terms of workplace exploitation.

These stations are not small businesses - so generalising should be avoided, in that context.

As one person put it to me, these stations open 24/7 and have people working there simply (and are being used) as cheap security, so people don't steal expensive items (like cigarettes) for example.

Most people (I would argue) don't want to work from say (midnight to say 8am in the morning) at a petrol station.

Many of these petrol stations are empty late at night and early into the morning. So flexibility is needed, to allow people, who may want to work in these very exhaustive, and I would argue very strange working hours and conditions, some ability to demand better pay rates and employment rights.

//Toni, you're missing the point. The article specifically points out that many businesses now close on these days due to costs//

Show me one. I might even go work for them and have a weekend off for a change, catch up with some of my Monday-Friday working mates. Like I said, I've worked in a lot of restaurants: none of them closed on weekends because it doesn't make good business sense for most restaurants. Some of them closed on Mondays, because Monday is the chef's weekend. A wise man knows to order steak rather than seafood on a Tuesday.

If more restaurants opened on Mondays it would mean more employment, but have no bearing on penalty rates (excluding public holidays). Restaurants garner their most profits on weekends, and make less on weekdays due to decreased trade. When they close it's usually more to do with a deficiency of trade rather than a surfeit of labour costs: even on flat rates, weekdays are often so quiet in trade that restaurants can't turn a profit. They balance the ledger with the hefty profits they make on weekends. Cutting penalty rates won't change that: it doesn't make sense to open on days that you're not profitable, and they won't. They'll just make profit on some of the days that they are. But they won't employ more people unless they need more people.

The author of the article is a Senator. With his impressive salary I'm sure he gets to eat at a lot of fancy restaurants, but it is clear to me that he doesn't have the faintest clue about the actual nature of the business. A lot of people don't. I'd be at a loss to run a successful butchery, even worse as a mechanic, but probably a better Senator than some of the halfwits we have at the moment.

At an extended family gathering on a Friday recently many were commenting on how much they had enjoyed the Grand Final public holiday in Victoria. It came at the end of school holidays and the roads were packed with families heading away for the three day break. It was a virtually unanimous opinion amongst those who had gathered early that the day was a winner.

It was then that one of the other family member arrived. He and his wife own and operate over a dozen stores nation wide. They where quite irate about the extra wages they were having to fork out for the day. They toned it down a little after hearing the views of the rest of us and it was noted that they were at a family gathering while their workers were not afforded that opportunity.

However they did make a good point, even if they had wanted to close these lease arrangements in many of the big shopping complexes expressly forbids them shutting their businesses for the day.

While I am sympathetic to their predicament we are being seduced into thinking that business should be dictating our reward rates (they shouldn't be called penalty since they reward those who agree to work unsociable and non-family friendly hours).

What we seem to be intent on creating is a climate where 95% of people are adversely impacted to put more money in the pockets of the 5%.

Toni, your a chef so you will follow this.

Food cost ten plus years ago were around a third, today they are closer to 20%, there is no more room to move as eggs have hit the $8 mark.

Food costs don't change on a public hol or Sumday, unless in the case of an emergency order.

When wage costs increase by up to 200% how on earth can the business make a profit.

You also said many loose money through the week. Correct, but they also use these days for prep. So they have paid for the wages out of their own pockets, yet, when they do hit the high profit days they are forced to pay 2-3 times the wage rates.

Of cause the busier they are the more efficient they run but not that much.

Walk ins are also a huge part of the modern day restaurant, brought about by a huge increase in dining options. You would know that while you may have 60 bookings, some nights you can have more in walk ins. Considering many staff are now casual, and the law states you must advise their finishing time at the start of their shift, how can you manage that, essoecially if say a huge storm breaks.

But, support penalty rates at your peril, because unless they are changed Jonson will go because there is no room left to slash food costs.

As for closures, nit sure where you are butbthere are a few great restaurants at Southbank, they close on Sundays and PH's and that's sad.