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Penalty rates keep shops shut

Working: Waiter Jim Karadimas at Sorrento Restaurant in Northbridge. Picture: Ian Munro/The West Australian

Many venues and businesses had to close or add surcharges of up to 15 per cent to their prices yesterday to recover rising costs of opening on public holidays, industry experts say.

Chamber of Commerce WA chief executive Deidre Willmott said employers faced paying staff up to 2.5 times as much in hourly penalty rates for working Sundays and public holidays and most opted not to open.

The Productivity Commission revealed last week it would look at ending weekend penalty rates in a raft of radical proposals it would investigate for Australia's workplace relations laws.

"What our members tell us is with the current penalty rates, they have three choices - one is to not make a profit but operate at a loss, operate with as few staff as possible and work in the business themselves, or to close," she said.

"It's most common to close. If the business has any staff, it's not practical for an owner to operate it themselves."

Ms Willmott said the chamber would submit to the Productivity Commission's review that there should be only one penalty rate, the equivalent of the current Saturday penalty rate.

It believes employers and employees should have more flexibility to negotiate on their own.

"It is a lost opportunity for those people who would like the opportunity to work on a Sunday or public holiday," she said.

"The community is missing out. A lot of people would have enjoyed being able to visit cafes and shops on a public holiday."

Northbridge was busy yesterday, with people looking for somewhere to spend Australia Day, but most shops, bars, cafes and restaurants were shut.

Fiona Dilanzo, of Sorrento Restaurant in James Street, said her family's venue opened because it had a 10 per cent surcharge on Sundays and public holidays.

"We couldn't do it (without the surcharge)," she said. "That's why a lot of people are closed on Sundays and public holidays."

Ms Dilanzo said penalty rates for Sundays and public holidays were too high and meant an unskilled worker was paid almost $40 an hour.

"I don't begrudge paying penalty rates but they are too high and I think there needs to be a minimum of hours worked," she said.

At Lot 20 bar in William Street, owner Andrew McIntyre said it was a business decision not to impose a surcharge.

"It's just a cost of doing business," he said. "We've got a good crowd in today but we've been pushing very hard."

Australian Hospitality Association WA chief executive Bradley Woods said more venues had surcharges but the public generally accepted them.