Dumped employment minister, Eric Abetz, hopes the Fair Work Commission will consider a proposal to create a single weekend penalty rate for retail and hospitality workers.
The Productivity Commission has made the recommendation to end the higher rate for Sunday shifts, but the government insists setting rates is a job for the independent umpire.

“I trust that armed with the information that has now come forward courtesy of the Productivity Commission, the Fair Work Commission will give due consideration to those findings,” he told ABC radio on Tuesday.

The former employment minister, who lost the portfolio in Malcolm Turnbull’s reshuffle, said it’s not for government to “get onto the sticky paper” of determining penalty rates.

“As soon as government gets involved in that I think you would find government legislating only in relation to workplace relations.”

Senator Abetz’s successor, Michaelia Cas,h intends to hold a series of roundtable discussions on the findings in the new year.

Senator Cash denied she was reluctant or hesitant to act on the report.

“We are not ducking a fight on industrial relations,” she said.

The government will be taking a workplace relations policy to the next election to seek a mandate, but penalty rates are up to the commission, she said.

The minister also claimed Labor and the unions were dealing themselves out of the conversation by conducting a campaign against changes to penalty rates.

AAP

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