"If the business doesn't grow, how are we going to employ more people?"
Mohammad Bhuiya is among restaurant owners disappointed the Fair Work Commission's decision to cut Sunday penalty rates for hundreds of thousands of retail and hospitality workers does not extend to restaurants.
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The penalty rates debate
A Sunday shift worker and restaurant manager argue their side for whether penalty rates should be cut or not.
"For me, it was not a balanced and fair decision," he said.
Mr Bhuiya, called "Boby" by his friends, is the principal business administrator for Sicilian Restaurant, which has served up woodfire pizzas and Italian cuisine for about a decade in Church Street, Parramatta.
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"When a business doesn't do well on a Sunday but it has pressure to pay staff a higher rate, it doesn't help the business," he said.
"When we reduce our staff, the service level drops. And when we lose customers, we lose business."
The Fair Work Commission heard evidence from some business owners that a cut in Sunday penalty rates would not necessarily encourage them to put on more staff.
But Mr Bhuiya said he would hire an extra two staff on Sundays to improve his food service.
"Instead of hiring five people I might put on seven people," he said.
"That would will help the community because we would be hiring more people."
>Melbourne waitress Erin Gibbons, 28, relies heavily on higher weekend pay rates to supplement her income.
As a casual employee working unpredictable shifts, she says penalty rates of $28 an hour on Saturdays and $33 on Sundays are part of the reason she has been able to make ends meet.
After the Fair Work Commission's controversial ruling, though, Ms Gibbons said many workers in her industry will be forced to find ways to "make up for this cut".
"There are a lot of people, a lot of my friends, who will have to make some really big decisions now," she said.
"They will have to think about getting a second job ... either that or become more dependent on their families or on welfare for support."
Ms Gibbons feared the Fair Work Commission's decision to cut Sunday pay could "open Pandora's Box" and the cuts "might not stop here".
"For everybody in hospitality, this has created uncertainty."
Jennifer Handley travels two hours from Bowral to Sydney for a 12-hour shift as a security worker seven days each fortnight.
She starts at 6.45pm and clocks off at 6.45am.
She works every second Sunday and relies on the penalty rates to help cover her transport costs. She says she can't afford to live closer to Sydney.
"It is also important to work at the weekend to make up for the extra cost of travelling to and from Sydney," she said.
"If I don't get the penalty rates for working on Sunday, there is no point working on Sunday for me.
"I may as well change my career and work Monday to Friday."
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