Ghosts from a distant era !

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon is trying to reform workplace laws to dump double time pay rates for weekend work.   Many of today's young people must find them peculiar.  They would most certainly have no idea of the strange world of commerce we lived in fifty or sixty years ago.

That was an era when governments, employers, unions and the churches had this quaint notion that all forms of business should only be conducted between the hours of nine am and six pm, five days a week.  It reluctantly permitted some small shops to open before the morning starting time and after the evening close to service the need for items such as a pint of milk or a loaf of bread, but this was frowned upon and subjected to strict controls.

Saturday morning trading was a continuing battle in many areas.   Some councils permitted shops to open from nine am to noon, but other areas insisted on a five day shopping week.    The one thing that was universally imposed - was a complete trading ban on Sunday.  The pubs were not permitted to trade.  The movie theatres did not trade.  About the only establishment that opened it's doors on a Sunday - were the churches.

Gradually, pressure built to provide service outside these restricted hours, and so commenced a vast system of penalties to keep opening hours under control.   Wages rate were required to be paid at time and a half or double time for employees required to work weekends or evenings - and this system is still with us in these more enlightened times.

We are now a twenty-four hour, seven day society.   There are few laws restricting the hours in which service can be provided.  That is a matter for the proprietor, and if there is demand for a service - then it will be provided if it delivers a profitable outcome.   This huge expansion of shopping hours is the reason for the vast array of jobs offering - in comparison to the restricted market of half a century ago.

Unfortunately, retaining penalty rates for businesses opening outside that ancient nine to six culture is the reason many establishments choose to close their doors on weekends and in the evenings.   That impost makes a profit marginal and it is simply not worth the effort,   As a result, many job opportunities that would help lower the unemployment rate go begging !

Nick Xenophon wants people to accept that getting a job means working a shift somewhere in that 24/7 culture that is our modern working world.   The hours required need to be a balance negotiated according to where the work is available, and this will suit the lifestyle of different types of people.  Many people with a surf culture would welcome a night shift that allows them the freedom to ride the waves during the day.  Others may prefer weekend work in preference to day shifts if they are studying to improve their professional skills.  The need for penalty rates of pay is no longer applicable.

Some will see this proposal as a radical idea, but if it succeeds it will certainly encourage many businesses to extend their trading hours, and that means an extension of the job market.   Penalty rates belonged to a time when society sought to restrict the hours of trade.   That is no longer the thinking in this booming twenty-first century !