rehctub,
Assuming you are correct, you still haven't got any evidence whatsoever that any of those people are falsely claiming to be underemployed.

Aidan, we also have no evidence that many claiming welfare are unfit for work due to drug use, but we all know it happens.

I am in business and I know it happens and that's proof enough for me.

So underemployment is not a problem?

The official unemployment rate plus the payment rate remain reasonably steady, yet the overall cost to the budget is increasing.

This alone suggests that the real unemployment rate is much higher than the official rate plus the amount of benefits being claimed by "the working poor" is also increasing. People may be technically underemployed if they don't earn enough to keep themselves above the poverty line and can't get enough work so the taxpayer keeps them afloat.

Add that to the fact that homelessness and poverty levels are also increasing and it's easy to see that all is not so rosy for an increasing number of people.

To suggest that underemployment is some sort of hoax is just another typical attempt at being an apologist for a failing and inept government.

Rache, i am not suggesting under employment is not a problem, i am simply suggesting some so called 'under employed' have second/third cash paing jobs. They are on the books as under employed, which i would suggest relates to hours, rather than dollars, then they have alternative income that they don't disclose. So in effect they are well paid, yet sill receive their tax payer provided benefits.

As for understaning the real unemployment numbers, this has gone on for many years and i unlikely to change. Many sin gle parents are unemployed, yet not counted as such.

Good to have a civil discussion with you Paul, I am not the enemy, rather the messenger.

So by your own admission, the staff gets paid an extra 20c (gross) on Sunday, yet the owner is paid 20c less. Doesn't make sense in any fair minded arrangement.

I would also suggest the guru who came up with the 20cents, simply took the time it takes to make a coffee and divided it into the hourly rate.

The trouble is many so called gurus have never set foot outside their office, because if they did they would realise that in order to make a coffee, one first needs to order the ingredients, unload same and store when they arrive, that's after checking the order, turn the ingredients into the coffee, clean the machine, service the machine, wash the cups, restock the ingredients,the list goes on, all while being paid.

The real labour cost of that $3.50 coffee is more like one dollar, because after all, 32 cents is Gst. In fact, some hospitality venues are struggling to get their labour costs below 40% and that leaves very little for the owner.

Surely if an owner, having taken the risk, and having paid three grand a week in wages, is entitled to make three grand for themselves, otherwise why be in business. One might as well choose red or black at the casino and get even money.

At the end of the day wages and conditions are about fairness, and for one party to be paid double on a Sunday, (staff) while the other pay that extra (boss)out of their pockets is simply unfair. But unions don't care about fair, they just set their mark, giving no consideration for the needs of the business and just expect the boss to find the money.

As for a barristor working for $21 per hour, I suggest very few 'good ones' work for that, but then most good ones run their own show.

Hi Butch, we always have a civil discussion, you are one of my favorite Discussors in the Forum Family, we have been discussing the issues for years. You lob a powder puff of an argument at me, and I retaliate by lobbing a hand grenade back at you, just as it should be,

Now, you assume wrongly that trading over time is uniform, sell as much coffee on a Sunday as you do on a Monday, wrong, wrong wrong. Even with increased labor costs it may be possible that increased sales on a Sunday results in the small business making a larger profit than average. You didn't allow for the benefit of amortizing (spreading) of fixed costs over more cups. Granted, the employees do receive an extra financial benefit by working Sundays, but like in any business, if the business goes gang busters, eg the International Coffee Drinkers Association is in town and record sales are made, it is the owner who mostly benefits financially not the employees. So it works both ways.