Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

I move Labor amendment (1) on sheet 1015:

(1) Schedule 2, item 22, page 13 (after line 17), after paragraph 789GJA(1)(c), insert:

  (ca) the jobkeeper enabling stand down direction will not result in the amount payable to the employee in relation to the performance of work for the employer for a jobkeeper fortnight that is within the jobkeeper enabling stand down period that is less than the amount that would be payable to the employee if the employer were entitled to a jobkeeper payment for the employee for the fortnight; and

Given that our previous amendment was unsuccessful, Labor is moving this amendment because it's critical to protecting the pay and conditions of low-paid workers. If this bill is passed unamended, we could see a situation where businesses which have recovered to the point where their turnover decline is less than 10 per cent can cut the hours of their employees to the tune of 40 per cent. Let's not forget that, in income terms, it could actually be much more than that, because it's a cut to hours.

If hours that are cut are hours that attract penalty rates then the worker may lose much more than 40 per cent of their take-home pay. A full-time retail worker, for instance, who normally works Wednesday to Sunday and who has their weekend shifts cut—which amounts to a 40 per cent cut in hours—would lose nearly half of their income. Remembering that retail workers have by and large stayed at work during this pandemic, this amendment has the effect of ensuring that no worker whose employer is no longer eligible for JobKeeper can cut their hours to the point where their take-home pay is less than the prevailing JobKeeper rate. Not to support this amendment means the employees working for companies which are recovering will be worse off than the employees working for businesses which, by the government's own definition, are in stress. I urge all senators to support this amendment.