wages and penalty rates. This ethos goes back to Justice Higgins who, in the
1909 Broken Hill Case, pronounced:
If a man cannot maintain his enterprise without cutting down wages which are
proper to be paid to his employees—at all events, the wages which are essential
for their living—it would be better he should abandon the enterprise.
(CCA 1909, p.32)The effects of minimum wages are well-known (Lewis 1997). Those who manage
togetajobarebetteroff:workersproducingvalue-addedjustabovetheminimum
wage will be substituted for those producing value-added below the minimum
wage. Those made unemployed are worse off. Minimum wages redistribute jobs
and income away from the worst off, and towards the not so badly off.
On top of the minimum wage specified in awards for work in‘normal’
hours, penalty rates also apply. They vary between awards, but in order to
make international comparisons the penalty rates applying in retail are con-
sidered here. In Australia, for permanent employees, an additional 100 per
cent on Sundays and an additional 150 per cent on public holidays applies,
making pay rates 200 per cent and 250 per cent, respectively, of the standard
wage rate. For casuals, an additional 75 per cent on Sundays and an additional
150 per cent on public holidays applies, making pay rates approximately 160
per cent and 220 per cent, respectively, of the standard casual loaded wage rate
for these employees (FWC 2014).
In the UK minimum wages are not greater on weekends or public holidays,
but for work on designated rest days employees receive a day off in lieu. In the
USA, there are no federal general statutory provisions. In a small number of
states a loading of 50 per cent applies on Sunday, for example, in Rhode Island
and Kentucky. Canadian employees receive a 50 per cent loading on Sundays.
In New Zealand there is no statutory loading for Sunday work but this is
negotiable by the employer and employee and stated in the employment
contract or collective agreement. For work on public holidays a loading of
50 per cent applies and a day off in lieu. In Japan rest days are negotiable and
work on these days attracts a loading of no less than 25 per cent and no more
than 50 per cent (PC 2011).
Clearly, penalty rates are much more prevalent and higher in Australia than
in other countries, and would be expected to have much bigger negative
effects on employees, businesses, and consumers (Lewis 2015).
7.9 Conclusion
What the chapter shows is that there is considerable variation in industrial
relations systems, with all of the countries having varying degrees of
Australia’s Industrial Relations Singularity