Thursday, July 21, 2005

IR laws put penalty rates at risk

The take-home pay of the thousands of Australian employees working early mornings, evenings, nights, weekends and shift work will not be guaranteed under the Federal Government's proposed industrial relations changes ACTU Secretary Greg Combet said today.

"Many working Australians and their families rely on the shift penalties they receive for working early mornings, evenings, nights, weekends or shift work to maintain their living standards and earn the extra money they need to pay the mortgage, the bills and education costs for their kids.

"But under the Federal Government's proposed industrial relations changes there is no guarantee these workers will continue to be entitled to any penalty payments at all. If penalty rates go, thousands of employees will suffer significant reductions in their take home pay at a time when many working families are already struggling just to keep their heads above water.

"Putting pressure on people's penalty rates will hurt workers in a whole range of industries - retail, hospitality, manufacturing, finance, cleaning, security, transport, storage and health just to name a few. In NSW for example, shift penalties comprise around 22% of the take-home pay for nurses and nursing assistants that work in nursing homes and aged care facilities. If nurses working in private hospitals and privately run aged care facilities were to lose their penalty rates their take home pay could drop by as much as $125 to $225 a week."

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