Federal Greens MP Greens Adam Bandt said his party will move to protect people’s public holiday rates, after the Victorian government said it would not be recognising Christmas Day as a public holiday.
Victorian staff working on Christmas Day, which falls on a Sunday this year, will not be entitled to penalty rates after the state government confirmed it would not make it a public holiday. Instead the public holiday will fall on Tuesday, the next available weekday.
Public holiday penalty rates are 2.5 times normal pay, while Sunday rates vary from 1.5 to two times the normal rate. Victoria is the only state not to recognise Christmas Day as a public holiday, with every other state declaring public holidays from 25 December through to 27 December.
Bandt, who is also the Greens industrial relations spokesman, said he would introduce the fair work amendment (protecting Christmas) bill 2016 into the federal parliament in the next sitting fortnight to ensure that public holiday penalty rates would be paid to people working on Christmas Day, 25 December, and New Year’s Day, 1 January.
“People who have to work on Christmas Day should be properly compensated for the time they spend working and away from their families,” Bandt said.
“It’s simple: if you have to work while everyone else is spending precious time with their family and loved ones, you deserve to be compensated for this special shared time lost.”
The Victorian government’s decision has been criticised by unions, especially given the premier, Daniel Andrews, introduced two new public holidays last year: one for Easter Sunday and another for the Friday before the AFL Grand Final.
That move was criticised by small businesses, with the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) estimating the two additional holidays would cost small businesses $105m in overtime wages each year.
However the state secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association, Michael Donovan, said the unions and were not consulted about the decision to exempt Christmas.
“The unions weren’t asked for their opinions, employers weren’t asked for their opinions,” he said. “What sort of inquiry is it if no one is consulted?”
The decision would affect 10 to 20% of Victoria’s workforce, he said including transport, medical and petrol station workers.
But the VECCI chief executive described the government’s decision as a sensible one.
“In September, the Victorian government insisted on holding the Grand Final public holiday again, costing many businesses thousands of dollars, so we are pleased to see it is sticking to the existing policy that works for Victorian businesses around the Christmas period,” he said.
Opposition MP John Pesutto said the Coalition would consider making a weekend Christmas Day a public holiday, but they would need to hear the arguments for it.
In 2017, Victoria will have 14 public holidays, matched only by the Australian Capital Territory. New South Wales and South Australia have 13, Queensland and the Northern Territory have 12, and there are 11 in Tasmania and Western Australia.
The federal Greens have also launched a petition against Andrews’ decision.
– with added reporting from agencies
