Kmart and other retail giants such as Coles, Woolworths, Barbeques Galore, T2 and Costco have proposed 17 changes to worker entitlements to the Fair Work Commission.
“The majority of our workforce is representative of a younger demographic who would often prefer to waive their meal break because they already carry water with them during shift and because smoking rates are now far less prevalent,” Kmart head of supply operations Chris Melton wrote in a statement to the commission.
Kmart’s evidence is supported by the Australian Retailers Association, which is calling for 17 changes to the retail industry award that would affect rostering, breaks, and entitlements in a bid to make it simpler for employers to use.
The ARA wants to give workers the right to take their 10-minute paid break at the end of their shift, which is currently explicitly barred by the award.
The ARA also wants to waive unpaid meal breaks for shifts up to six hours and believes bosses should not have to roster on break in advance.
Other amendments include not having to pay loading to full-time staff who get paid in excess of 25 per cent above standard rates for overtime, evening and weekend work.
It also wants to reduce the legal gap between finishing one shift and starting the next reduced from 12 hours to 10.
However, retail unions are opposing the ARA proposal as they fear it could see the disappearance of the rest break.
“The employers are abusing a bit of good old Aussie slang used to describe what was always designed to be a brief opportunity for workers to recharge their batteries so they could focus efficiently, effectively and safely on their designated tasks throughout the rest of their shifts,” Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association national secretary Gerard Dwyer told the Australian Financial Review (AFR).
“The fact that fewer people smoke these days or that some workers carry water bottles does not detract from the real purpose of these brief breaks.
“Rather, it is a smokescreen being erected by some ungrateful employers who can never think beyond finding new ways of chipping away at workplace arrangements.”
Retail and Fest Food Workers Union secretary Josh Cullinan told AFR that rest breaks are a safety component for workers who are “forced to work in the cold or work in the heat or a fast environment, or have customers treating them appallingly.”
Cullinan added that young workers were “not sitting at a computer where they can browse the web and emails – this is a time when they can have a cool drink and check their phone or check on family”.
Retail unions have until mid-February to respond to ARA’s submissions, with a 10-day hearing for the case listed to start on March 17.
