File this one under ‘everybody please calm down’. After a News.com.au report which suggested Woolworths had violated public holiday trading hour laws by allowing employees to cook chicken before the 1pm deadline on Anzac Day yesterday, Coles has come out swinging, demanding that Woolies be fined $11,000 for every store which had employees in the store before 1pm.
This was the year of Anzac Day crackdowns – Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian announced that the government would be strictly enforcing the law after letting some things slide on Boxing Day last year.
What’s the accusation? It’s obvious that Woolies couldn’t have fresh cooked chicken on shelves unless there were people in the store working beforehand. Ditto fresh bread. Woolies says they didn’t break the law, as the only people working were volunteer managers, and not employees on award wages.
So Coles feels a little stung that they were way behind on the roast chook stakes, which as we know can make or break a business. Woolies reckons it was all above board:
“Clear direction was given to stores that volunteer salaried managers were allowed to enter and undertake certain limited preparations for opening at 1pm.”
Obviously the real story here is that Woolies, uh, didn’t pay their workers? That seems like a far bigger crime than the fact that they had their chickens ready before Coles did.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
Photo: Getty Images / Quinn Rooney.
