David Leyonhjelm (NSW, Liberal Democratic Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill.

Leave granted.

I table an explanatory memorandum and seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

The purpose of this bill is to improve the viability of small businesses operating in the Restaurant and Catering, Retail, and Hospitality industries.

This bill will reduce regulation overseeing the relationship between certain small businesses and their employees.

It does this by removing any requirement that certain small businesses pay penalty rates unless: the work is on a public holiday; the work is in excess of ten hours of work in a day; or the work is on a weekend and in addition to 38 hours of work over a seven day period.

Businesses in the nominated industries with fewer than 20 employees will be defined as 'excluded small businesses', to which the provisions of the bill will apply.

The original intent of applying penalty rates was to introduce a penalty for employers requiring employees to work outside the standard Monday to Friday working week, or conversely, to reward employees who agreed to give up traditional weekend days.

However, we no longer live in the world that existed when penalty rates were first introduced.

Pubs used to shut at 6pm. Dining choices were limited. Shopping ceased at noon on Saturdays. Sporting events were held almost exclusively on Saturdays.

Today's world, in many ways, operates 24/7.

We now shop all weekend. We dine out from breakfast through to the early hours of the morning, with a vast growth in the breadth and depth of dining choices over the last thirty years.

Tourism services for both domestic and international visitors have also blossomed in the same period, to the extent that tourism is now the second fastest growing sector in the economy.

These revolutions in retailing, dining and tourism has provided numerous business and job opportunities to hundreds of thousands of Australians.

But now we are stalling.

Businesses and entrepreneurs are pulling back; shrivelling under the dead hand of government regulation.

An increasing number of retailers, restaurants and tourist businesses are restricting trading hours and will not open on Sundays in particular, because they lose money through over-inflated penalty rates.

Some continue to open to try to hold on to their customer base, but are staffed mainly by family members.

Others simply cannot operate in this manner, so they open, pay penalty rates and forgo profit, hoping that they maintain their market share.

It is ludicrous that established business owners are now being forced to restrict trading hours, and therefore job opportunities, because regulated pay rates deny profitable trade.

Make no mistake; any business, other than a sole trader, that restricts trading hours is closing off a job opportunity for someone.

The accounting firm Deloitte recently reported that 49 per cent of businesses in one sector reduce their hours of operation when penalty rates apply. They also reported that a large number of businesses have decreased their number of employees due to the impact of penalty rates.

Self-evidently, most employers in the industries nominated in the bill have few choices as to preferred trading hours; the imperative is to trade when customers are looking for your product or service.

So, to enhance the continuing evolution of these important industries we need to recognise the changed circumstances that apply in the 21st century and recalibrate, by adapting to the changed lifestyle choices of both customers and employees.

Recalibrating now, recognising that change is needed, is preferable to the fate of numerous industries that refused to do so and are no longer in business.

We need to recognise where we have come from, what we have achieved and what future we want for retailing, restaurants and tourism.

Many of the people who work in these businesses choose to do so because they want to work after traditional work hours or on weekends to accommodate studies, or the work patterns of their partners.

Far from feeling penalised for working early or late shifts or weekends, it is the first choice for many.

The transcripts of the 2012 Modern Awards Review conducted by the Fair Work Commission make for interesting reading.

Employers state that they find it easier to find employees for weekend shifts, rather than Monday to Friday 9 to 5 shifts.

Employees nominate on their job application forms when they wish to work during the week, and in many cases, times are chosen to fit in with their studies and to avoid formal class hours.

Many of the employees in these industries are young, with limited skills, and are highly mobile, changing jobs to suit their current needs.

Some stated that if they could not work on weekends, they could not work.

Clearly for many it is not a burden to work on weekends or after traditional business hours, but an opportunity.

This opportunity is now being denied in a growing number of businesses who now refuse to open on Sundays because of penalty rates of up to 275 per cent.

This bill will provide viability to those small business owners who would like to trade all weekend, but currently do not, as they refuse to trade at a loss because of pay rates that cannot be recouped.

The bill will provide employment opportunities currently not available because businesses are closed on these days.

Importantly, adoption of these changes will allow our tourism oriented businesses to maximise the opportunities from our growing tourism sector.

Employees can ultimately choose whether they want to take up these opportunities to work under the new conditions or not.

Presently they do not have these choices when businesses do not even open.

This bill addresses a growing problem in three labour intensive industries and seeks to broaden opportunities for both employers and employees.

The bill is specific to three industries, targeted with a 21st century mindset that recognises changing lifestyles and the needs of both customers and employees.

I commend the bill to the Senate.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.