I loved the last paragraph in this story

http://www.standard.net.au/story/2128431/camperdown-bakery-calls-for-sunday-penalty-pay-relief/

PAUL and Kate Kent’s bakery and café in Camperdown yesterday became part of a national debate about weekend penalty rates.

The Kents’ decision to stop Sunday trading at their Loaf and Lounge business because penalty rates made it unviable was one of the examples cited by member for Wannon Dan Tehan in his call yesterday for a rethink on penalty rates in Australia.

His call reignited a national debate on the issue, being picked up by media throughout Australia and supported by a number of other regional Liberal MPs.

Mr Tehan said the high cost of penalty rates “was covering the country in ghost towns on a Sunday”.

Penalty rates were causing “an ever-growing casualty list including workers, businesses and local communities,” he said.

They were based on last- century rationale when men were often the sole household breadwinner and weekends were sacrosanct, Mr Tehan said. Society had since changed and business and unions needed to “meet in the middle” to ensure penalty rates did not endanger the nation’s future growth.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said the plan by some Liberal MPs “to attack penalty rates for dedicated workers in rural and regional Australia will hurt some of the country’s most vulnerable”.

ACTU president Ged Kearney said attempts to link penalty rates to unemployment was ill-founded and there was no evidence that businesses were closing down as a result of having to pay workers fair penalty rates.

“In fact, slashing workers’ pay packets would mean there’s less disposable income in rural and regional towns to spend in local shops,” Ms Kearney said.

Back in Camperdown, Mr Kent said the bakery had traded seven days a week for eight years until December, when it closed on Sundays because penalty rates had made trading too expensive.

He said he was aware that some businesses reached “underground” arrangements with their staff about working times that attracted penalty rates but he was unwilling to break the law.

He said he had a loyal staff who deserved to be rewarded for their efforts but the cost of providing table service on Sundays had “blown out our operating costs”.

He and his wife were unwilling to work Sundays themselves because they had a young family and wanted to spend time with their children.

Redmond Neck wrote on Mar 13^th, 2014 at 8:28am:

He and his wife were unwilling to work Sundays themselves because they had a young family and wanted to spend time with their children.

says it all really ... he doesn't want to work but doesn't want to pay others a fair rate to work. I hope the public in that area boycotts his bakery the snivelling slime.

Ha ha - well - big deal - they close Sundays..

gotta love the punch line.... "they don't want to work Sundays"

You know - I may be dumb, but I've put in a tender for a maintenance contract that requires seven days a week attention to some things.... I'll most likely be contracting out two week days to someone as a casual on ordinary rates.

Can't see why business owners can't employ people on week days and work Sundays themselves... the time of the week when demand is peak and more money is to be made is between Thursday and Sunday...

Maybe these people who 'run' businesses need to re-think their own approach and stay out of the business of those they wish to employ...... as covered by awards etc...

If you want people to work weekends or public holidays, they should get paid penalty rates.      ;) 

"They were based on last- century rationale when men were often the sole household breadwinner"

Maybe we would all be better served if men were the real breadwinners again and we weren't forced into the MADIF etc.

Put the women back in the kitchen and let the economy thrive on full employment again.  It seems from what was published on International Women's day that most Australian women would prefer less hours and more family time etc.  Easy fix.  No married women in work if their husband works full-time.

I love it when people come up with the answer but stop short of arriving at it.

Grappler Truth Teller Feller wrote on Mar 13^th, 2014 at 8:36am:

No married women in work if their husband works full-time.

OK by me......

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