But association says current award 'unnecessarily complex'
Unions are objecting to a proposal lodged by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) with the Fair Work Commission, which seeks to overhaul the General Retail Industry Award 2020 (GRIA).
The proposal is set to be heard in March 2025.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions said the ARA's application, filed in February 2024, calls for the scrapping of overtime, evening, and weekend penalty rates, as well as the reduction of rest periods between shifts from 12 hours to 10 hours.
But the ARA previously said that their application's goal is to make the GRIA "clearer, simpler, and more flexible for all parties."
According to the association, the current award, with 994 individual pay rates spanning 96 pages, is "unnecessarily complex and misaligned with the evolving needs of the retail workforce."
"This leads to employees and employers struggling to understand workplace entitlements and cultivate flexibility within working arrangements," it said in a statement.
The association said that they recognise the importance of safeguards for employees.
"The ARA's proposed variations to the GRIA seek to promote clearer guidelines around working conditions, empowering employees to understand their rights while also fostering greater transparency and flexibility in working arrangements," it stressed.
The ARA’s application also seeks to eliminate key worker protections such as work breaks or "smoko breaks." In return, the association proposes a 25% pay rise to buy out workers' rights under the current award.
Joseph Mitchell, ACTU Assistant Secretary, warned that the ARA's proposal could set a precedent that will spread to other industries.
"It's not just retail workers that this application could impact. If this precedent spreads to other industries whose workers rely on awards, in hospitality or healthcare, more than one million workers could be affected," Mitchell warned in a statement.