Incomes dive under Work Choices

John Della Bosca; Pic by: Brianne Makin

Many retail and hospitality employees have lost up to 30 per cent of their income under Work Choices legislation, a report commissioned by state Labor governments says.

The study, Lowering the Standards, by Sydney University's Workplace Research Centre was commissioned by the NSW, Queensland and Victorian state governments and examined 339 workplace agreements between March and December 2006. 

The most affected employees are those working part-time on a casual basis, on weekends and after usual standard hours, the report said.

Worst hit were liquor store workers, losing between 11.9 per cent and 31.1 per cent of their earnings under Work Choices. Employees at fast food outlets lost up to 21.3 per cent and bakery workers lost up to 24.5 per cent of their pre-Work Choices income.

The Workplace Research Centre's director Dr John Buchanan said the research highlighted an important trend.

"Most of the agreements we examined were not really agreements in the true sense of the word - of people tailoring their employment conditions to the local needs of the enterprise," he said.

"They were essentially a means by which people were moved off awards and on to the much lower statutory standards based in WorkChoice legislation."

NSW Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca said the results of the report showed Work Choices had stripped away working conditions the Federal Government claimed would be protected.

"Unfortunately, as always, the hardest hit are the most vulnerable ... those working part time or casual hours that need that little bit extra on weekends to get by,'' Mr Della Bosca said.

Weekend penalty rates had been lost in between 71 per cent and 76 per cent of the agreements examined, the report said. Overtime rates had been slashed in 68 per cent of agreements and 60 per cent scrapped public holiday penalty rates.

Federal Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey dismissed the report and said the data was compiled before the introduction of the Fairness Test in May.

News.com.au, September 13, 2007