Myer Exec: Millennials Want Flexible Hours Over ‘Restrictive’ Penalty Rates


Myer’s chief executive Richard Umbers has thrown himself into the fray of the raging penalty rates debate, arguing that young Australians are totes on board with getting rid of the “restrictive” wage system we’re running with at the moment. 
At a conference in Melbourne – a city known worldwide for its vibrant weekend cafe culture – Umbers said retail and hospitality workers “really want to work in a way that suits their lifestyle and they think in terms of work-life balance and that isn’t something typically that’s enhanced by [penalty rates].”
The implication being, workers who cover less-than-ideal hours should be just fine without extra compensation, ’cause flexibility is a reward in itself.
Umber also said it’s time for Australia to “unlock the next wave of productivity without the fear that these measures we put in place have to be to the detriment of employees,” alluding to the plight of small business who might struggle to keep up with their employee’s penalty rates. 
Granted, wages in this country for casual and part-time workers aren’t miniscule, and it’s a fine line to tread for small businesses; the counter-argument still centres on the fact many workplaces that take on employees subject to penalty rates do most of their business in those hours, anyway.
Implying it has to be an either/or scenario, and that young workers need to choose between working regular but terribly-timed hours, or making good money on the scant few shifts available to them? Well…

Story: Fairfax.
Photo: Nigel Killeen / Getty. 


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