Award Modernisation Policy
Newsagents are predominantly small or micro businesses and the terms and conditions of the majority of their commercial relationships are heavily prescribed by the standard-form agreements offered to them by their major product suppliers.
Of the five core product categories carried by newsagents, including: newspapers, magazines, lotteries, stationary and greeting cards; only stationary supplier contracts allow newsagents to determine the product commission or product prices.
Long standing industry norms dictate the commission received and selling price for products from each of the other core product categories. Such prescriptive terms are also characteristic of the majority of electronic products such as prepaid mobile phone recharge.
Further, the terms and conditions of these commercial agreements prescribe core operational hours on both weekdays and weekends, in addition to specific operational matters such as the time, number and manner of delivery and product handling.
In such circumstances, newsagents when compared with other retail industries have relatively little control over their core revenue streams or the manner in which costs, particularly labour costs, are incurred.
Accordingly, newsagents are especially vulnerable to many of the changes and increased costs arising from the General Retail Industry Modern Award.
Substantive Modern Award
The Minister’s award modernisation request required that the award modernisation process must not lead to increased costs for employers and should have regard to, among other things, current economic conditions and the sustainability of the modern award terms.
The ANF believes that a number of key terms of the General Retail Industry Modern Award create significant increased costs for the newsagency industry, contrary to the terms of the Minister’s consolidated award modernisation request.
Key areas of specific concern for newsagents arising under the General Retail Industry Modern Award are:
• Sunday penalty rates of 200% for permanent employees,
• Sunday penalty rates of 225% for casual employees,
• Casual loading of 25%, and
• Normal hours of work.
The industry-wide funding and contractual arrangements with suppliers has created long term cost structures within the newsagent industry which impacts on newsagents’ ability to implement cost increases in a manner that is both efficient for their businesses and is fair to their employees.
As a result, the impact of the award modernisation process on the newsagency industry will be more severe than other retail industries leading to fewer available hours of weekend work, fewer employment opportunities and an increased burden and social impact on the families of newsagents as they are required work the weekend shifts they will no longer afford to staff.
Transitional Provisions
Whilst the Commission has ordered that the full 5 year transitional period apply to a number of terms in the General Retail Industry Modern Award including, among others, weekend penalties and casual and part-time loadings, these still represent a significant future cost increase the newsagent industry will struggle to absorb.
The ANF acknowledges that the Commission’s decision to opt for the full five year transition period will lessen the impact of award modernisation on newsagents, however the ANF is disappointed that labour costs to newsagents will increase as a result of the award modernisation contrary to the Minister’s original award modernisation request.
The Australian Newsagents’ Federation will be proactive in representing to governments its member’s position in respect to the modernisation of awards and workplace relations matters more generally.