Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Essential Poll - huge support for penalty rates

Eight out of 10 Australians agree that people who work outside normal business hours should be paid higher rates, the latest Essential poll shows.

That number is the same as when the poll was taken in May 2013, before Labor lost power in the federal election.

Nearly 70% of Coalition voters, and just over 90% of both Labor and Greens voters, said people who work shifts or on weekends should be given higher hourly pay.

On the flipside, 23% of all respondents supported cutting penalty rates for retail and hospitality workers. The suggestion was opposed by 68%.

This month employer Lindsay Partridge suggested that working outside business hours had become the norm so penalty rates no longer applied. Statistics show that more than two-thirds of workers still work Monday to Friday.

The Essential poll results come shortly after the Productivity Commission released the terms of reference of a wide-ranging review of industrial relations. The commission has until November to report back.

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