Small business owners have backed the Fair Work Commission's decision to slash Sunday penalty rates.
The FWC announced on Thursday morning that Sunday penalty rates paid in the retail, fast food, hospitality and pharmacy industries will be reduced.
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Justin Lan, owner of the Two Birds cafe in Collingwood, says staff wages for his business are very high.
"For most business it is hard enough to survive and of course it is much better if you don't have to pay the higher rates," he says.
![Two Birds Cafe owner Justin Lan says opening on weekends is hard for small business owners.](/web/20170328094612im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/1/h/7/g/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gujm9l.png/1487829608867.jpg)
Lan employs six staff and says most are full-time because rates for casual staff are so high and he often works himself to cover the shifts.
"It is hard to close on the weekend because all the fresh food will be gone but if you open on the weekend your staff costs are very high," he says. "The problem is you work so hard and then pay staff and you have nothing left."
Council of Small Business of Australia chief executive Peter Strong says the Fair Work Commission's decision creates equity in the marketplace.
"Small business was being unfairly penalised," he says. "This evens up the playing field. We were paying double time and the big end of town paying time and half in retail and it was similar in hospitality."
Mr Strong says there won't be a change for most employees.
"I'm really disappointed in Labor and the unions for not confronting the fact 80 per cent of people on Sundays already get the lower rates. For small business owners they can employ more people, open the shop, maybe have a day off instead of having to work every Sunday. It creates a lot of opportunity that isn't there at the moment."
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell also backed the decision as a "win for common sense".
"Small businesses are telling me that up until now, the wage costs on weekends and holidays are just so high that they have no choice but to close their doors," Ms Carnell says.
The problem is you work so hard and then pay staff and you have nothing left.
Justin Lan
Those small businesses who do stay open on Sundays are "basically providing a community service", she says.
"Let's not forget, the big players in this space – the supermarkets, the big fast-food chains – have already traded away penalty rates in their Enterprise Bargaining Agreements, so the only people who have been forced to pay the higher wages on Sundays are mum and dad small business owners."
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