Tourism bodies say 24-hour tourism industry struggling with penalty rates

Tourism bodies say the industry is struggling with penalty rates, and warn that the expiration of enterprise bargaining agreements will put further strain on operators, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises operating in regional and rural areas.

Felicia Mariani, managing director of the industry body the Australian Tourism Export Council, says the requirement that casuals be paid double-time-and-a-half on Sundays and public holidays is hurting some businesses, particularly outside the capital cities.

“The tourism industry is a 24-hour, seven-day operation and the profit margins are low. For many of our members, staff costs stifle their capacity to effectively operate a business, and the impact will undoubtedly be a rationalisation of services,” Mariani said in a statement.

“We are not arguing against a fair wage for fair work. That’s absolutely appropriate and the industry is fully prepared to step up in this regard, but this review [the Government review into the Fair Work Act] must incorporate some of the realities and costs of operating a tourism business in the current environment.”

Tourism Whitsundays chief executive Peter O’Reilly says penalty rates are a “huge issue” and the issue is likely to worsen as EBAs expire.

“It’s an issue that’s going to grow as more businesses come to the end of their agreements, so it’s escalating quite quickly.”

“Their EBA are running out and they’re sitting out to find out what their options are, and they’re finding out they don’t have any.”

The comments follow similar complaints about penalty rates by the hospitality industry body, with MasterChef star and restaurateur George Calombaris noting that uneducated wait staff were receiving $40 per hour at some times of the week.

The Restaurant and Catering Association recently called for enterprise agreements to be allowed to override modern award provisions, when agreed by a majority of employees, as well as replacing individual flexibility arrangements with genuine individual agreement that allow for a flat hourly rate.