Pharmacists and retailers warn new awards will cost jobs

The pharmacy and retail sectors have stepped up their fight against the Rudd Government’s new modern awards regime, warning that the new awards will cause employers to shed workers.

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has written to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission warning that moving to the Government’s proposed new award will cost 4,000 jobs, including 2,541 sackings in New South Wales, 736 in Queensland and 597 in Western Australia.

The guild says the new award will lead to a 22% increase in labour costs, mainly due to new overtime provisions in the new awards.

Retailers are similarly concerned about the new awards system and Australian Retailers Association executive director Richard Evans claims a new retail award will increase retailers’ wage bills by an average of $22,000 or 14%.

“Under the new award small retailers are penalised for meeting consumer demands of deregulated shopping hours, with overtime and loadings taking effect after prescribed working days, not prescribed working hours,” he says.

“This means to stay open and meet consumer demand a small retailer must pay more for staff to flip burgers or sell shoes on a Sunday than they do on a Monday.

“Small retailers operating under the new retail award won’t be able to afford to open on weekends or after hours without passing costs onto consumers or shedding staff.”

Earlier this week, Workplace Minister Julia Gillard thrilled the café and restaurant sector by announcing that it would get its own award, after warnings that a new hospitality industry award could send businesses to the wall.

Gillard has also advised the Industrial Relations Commission to consider the state of the economy when it considers award decisions and make use of the full five-year transitional arrangements available under the new legislation.

But Richard Evans says transitional arrangements will not be enough.

“Any intentions Minister Gillard or the AIRC have to address this problem via transitional provisions will not prevent an increase in costs. They will merely be phased in with the same end result – fewer jobs and fewer shops.

“We are urging Minister Gillard to instruct the AIRC to immediately review penalty rate structures and rostering arrangements outlined in the new retail award, taking into account the modern retail environment driven by consumer demand.”

“Small business owners need Minister Gillard to apply the same reasonable thinking to retailers as she did to the restaurants and catering sector,” Evans says.