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Owners call time on penalty rates

Dinner's off menu: Jacki O'Hara, general manager of The Peasant's Table in Mt Hawthorn. Picture: Nic Ellis/The West Australian

A local restaurant owner wants a Federal inquiry into workplace relations to end penalty rates that will cost her an extra $900 in wages to open on Australia Day.

Jacki O'Hara, general manager of The Peasant's Table in Mt Hawthorn, said she would struggle to break even when she opened for breakfast and lunch on Monday.

She said she would do it as a service to her loyal customers, but would close at 5pm before the usual dinner trade because it would cost her too much money to stay open.

Ms O'Hara said penalty rates - almost $50 an hour for her staff - were outdated in the era of fly-in, fly-out and shift work.

She urged the Australian Productivity Commission to consider the impact of weekend and public holiday penalties on small-business owners in its workplace review.

A discussion paper also raises the prospect of reducing weekend and other penalty rates, potentially replacing them with time off in lieu.

But Ms O'Hara believes a flat rate around the clock would be easier to administer and for operations.

"As a business owner, you can't just open and close when you think you will make money, because you provide a service to your customers," she said.

"I will be happy if I break even on Monday. Last year, trade was dead on Australia Day."

UnionsWA has said it will fight to maintain penalty rates while Colin Barnett said they should be maintained but made "more realistic".

"I support penalty rates," the Premier said. "If people are working at night or over weekends, they should be paid more on an hourly basis, but that should be fair.

"When you get penalty rates that are up to three times the normal hourly rate, that is stopping employment in the hospitality and tourism industries," Mr Barnett said.

"We are losing jobs we would otherwise have, and I think it's unfair to those other people who maybe work Monday to Friday in normal hours."

He said the review would be closely watched by the State Government. It is considering changing awards for unincorporated small businesses, which remain in the State industrial relations jurisdiction.

Mr Barnett said big businesses had negotiated lower penalty rates with unions.

Australian Hotels Association chief executive Bradley Woods said he would fight for lower penalties.

"Every long weekend owners of hotels, pubs, small bars and restaurants are faced with a decision to open or not due to out-dated penalty rates which raise costs for consumers," he said.