More than one in four Australian workers are not being paid for their overtime, according to newly released figures.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that one in three employees spend more time at work than they are contractually obliged to.
However, 26% of the workforce, around 800,000 people, do so without compensation, with female employees more likely than their male counterparts to do unpaid overtime.
Pacific Brands chief executive Peter Bush has warned about the growing market power of Coles and Woolworths, along with the potential damage they could inflict on smaller suppliers.
“I am not a big believer in regulation. I am a big believer in self-regulation. But I am also someone who believes everyone should have a fair go. And I think the important thing in this process is that there needs to be a level playing field… I am certainly not convinced there is,” Bush says.
“If you are a small supplier and you want to have your product listed with the major chains – anywhere, whether it is in liquor, apparel or on the supermarket shelf – it’s going to cost a lot of money. It is pretty tough.”
Tony Abbott is coming under increasing pressure from economic dries within his party and conservative think tanks to abandon his paid parental leave scheme, with Coalition MP Alex Hawke writing an essay attacking the proposal for the Institute of Public Affairs’ IPA Review.
“As the Labor Party continues to expand the welfare state and re-regulate our labour market, the Liberal Party must be mindful not to join them in adding to the burdens on our businesses… At a potential cost of $4.3 billion, a parental leave scheme at full pay would be an unjustifiable impost on business at a crucial time in the economic cycle,” Hawke says.
“Alex Hawke is saying what many Liberal MPs think and privately admit – Tony Abbott’s paid parental leave scheme is unnecessary, unaffordable and unjustified,” IPA Review editor James Paterson says.
“It is a truly bizarre situation to have the Liberal Party going to the next election promising a higher rate of company tax than the Labor Party, particularly when Australia already has one of the highest rates of company tax in the world.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.96% to 14,973.96. The Aussie dollar is up to US103.13 cents.
