SDA RESPONSE TO THE REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENT ON PROPOSED NEW PUBLIC HOLIDAYS IN VICTORIA

The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association Victorian Branch consists of over 50,000 members in Victoria. The overwhelming majority of the members work in retail and fast food establishments. Most of their workplaces choose to open on Easter Sunday and expect employees to work on the day.

SDA members have an interest in the matter of Easter Sunday and Grand Final Friday as public holidays.

The Government promised to make Easter Sunday and Grand Final Friday public holidays prior to the election

When a party is elected to Government there is an important compact between the Government and the voters. The voters vote a Government into office on the basis of the policies the relevant party promotes to the voters. Voters expect a party in Government to implement the policies it promotes to the voters. Disillusionment sets in if a party fails to deliver on its promises and breaks its compact with the voters.

The ALP issued a media release on 22 April 2014 promising to make Easter Sunday a public holiday. The Parliamentary Leader Daniel Andrews received considerable publicity on this issue including on TV Channels 2, 9, 10 on radio stations 3AW and Magic FM and in the Herald Sun newspaper. It was also taken to the November 2014 election as a commitment.

The ALP also made very clear before the election that it intended to make the Friday before the AFL Grand Final a public holiday. It too was an election commitment.

In these circumstances it can clearly be said that the Government has a mandate to implement the policy it promoted so strongly to the voters.

Before specifically addressing the Regulatory Impact Statement we wish to reiterate the merit of the Government’s election promise to make Easter Sunday and Grand Final Friday public holidays.

Easter Sunday

Many people are surprised to find that Easter Sunday is not currently legislated as a public holiday.

We believe that the reason Easter Sunday was not traditionally a public holiday is because all Sundays used to be treated the same as public holidays in respect of both shop trading hours and award entitlements. There was therefore no need to “call out” Easter Sunday explicitly as a public holiday.

With the legalising of shop trading on Sundays and the extension of the award spread of hours to include Sunday, Easter Sunday is unfinished business. The retailers have successfully lobbied to achieve shop opening on Easter Sunday. It is only fair that in return the interests of retail workers are looked after by making Easter Sunday a public holiday.

The benefit of Easter Sunday being a public holiday is two fold for our members.

Firstly, for most SDA members under enterprise agreements work on a public holiday is voluntary. This means if Easter Sunday is a public holiday employees can choose to have the day off with pay. It is about the opportunity of having the day off to spend with family and friends.

Secondly, those who choose to work on Easter Sunday or those who are required to work on Easter Sunday are compensated by the payment of public holiday penalty rates.

The volunteers who work because they find the penalty rates attractive allow those who do not want to work on Easter Sunday to have the day off as a public holiday whilst still allowing the shop to trade on the day.

The SDA is IN FAVOUR of the legislating of Easter Sunday as a public holiday for a number of reasons.

1.  Significance of Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday is significant to many people for religious reasons. As best we can identify, it appears that even today about 30% of the population go to a Christian Church at least twice a year.

If they go as infrequently as twice a year it is reasonable to conclude that it is most likely Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. It is well known that Church attendances are significantly higher on those two days. There is no doubt that a significant proportion of the population attends Church services on Easter Sunday.

Easter Sunday is also significant to many people who are not religious because it is in the middle of a four day holiday period and the last holiday break before winter.

Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday are public holidays but Easter Sunday is not. It is not logical that the most significant day over the Easter period is not a public holiday.

Easter Sunday should be a public holiday in addition to Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday.

2.  Easter Sunday is recognised as a public holiday in many overseas countries.

Many countries overseas recognise Easter Sunday and as best we can ascertain they include:

Europe / Other /
Norway / Denmark / Lebanon
Sweden / Finland / Syria
Netherlands / Poland / Egypt
Lithuania / Estonia / Eritrea
Iceland / Italy / Ethiopia
San Marino / Albania / Sudan
Greece / Romania / Papua New Guinea
Bulgaria / Vatican
Bosnia Herzegovina / Portugal
Moldova / Georgia
Croatia / Moldova
Hungary / Serbia
Latvia / Slovenia
Ukraine

In England, Wales and New Zealand shops are permitted to trade on most Sundays but are not permitted to trade on Easter Sunday. In France, Germany and Austria the majority of shops are not permitted to trade on most Sundays including Easter Sunday.

3.  Easter Sunday is a public holiday in NSW

Easter Sunday is a public holiday in the largest State of Australia – NSW. Legislation was introduced by the last Labor Government in 2010 to make Easter Sunday a public holiday and it was passed unanimously by the NSW Parliament – ALP, Liberal Party, National Party, Greens, Christian Democrats all supported the legislation – an unusual degree of unanimity.

The current Liberal/National Government in NSW has not reversed the Legislation.

To the best of our knowledge, no one has alleged any adverse effects on business from Easter Sunday being a public holiday for the last five years in NSW.

4.  Victorians are in favour of Easter Sunday as a public holiday.

Victorians are in favour of Easter Sunday being a public holiday.

In early 2014 the SDA commissioned an independent poll of 1000 Victorians conducted by QDOS Research which shows that

83% of Victorians believe that if employees have to work on Easter Sunday they should be paid the same penalty rates as those for Easter Saturday and Easter Monday

70% of Victorians believe that Easter Sunday is a very important day for practicing and non-practising Christians of all denominations and it should be respected as such by being classified as a public holiday

76% of Victorians believe that even if Easter Sunday has no religious significance, families should have the right to a public holiday as an opportunity to spend time together, away from work

This support is not limited to ALP voters.

There is also very strong support amongst Coalition voters for Easter Sunday to be a public holiday.

The results in the poll for Coalition voters were as follows:

77% of Coalition voters believe that if employees have to work on Easter Sunday they should be paid the same penalty rates as those for Easter Saturday and Easter Monday

69% of Coalition voters believe that Easter Sunday is a very important day for practicing and non-practising Christians of all denominations and it should be respected as such by being classified as a public holiday

71% of Coalition voters believe that even if Easter Sunday has no religious significance, families should have the right to a public holiday as an opportunity to spend time together, away from work

Remarkably 42% of Victorians think Easter Sunday is already a public holiday.

5.  SDA members are in favour of Easter Sunday as a public holiday

The overwhelming majority of SDA members work in the retail and fast food industries.

Last year we sent out a questionnaire to SDA members on five industrial issues to ascertain their views. One of the issues was Easter Sunday.

Over 96% of SDA members want Easter Sunday to be a public holiday with public holiday penalty rates applying for work on Easter Sunday.

It is reasonable to conclude on the basis of such an overwhelming result that that is the view of retail and fast food workers generally.

Employees in the retail industry value their family time and their personal time. They want the opportunity to have the day off or to be compensated with the payment of penalty rates if they work on Easter Sunday.

Grand Final Friday

In addition to committing to legislate Easter Sunday as a public holiday, the ALP also made a well-publicised commitment to making Grand Final Friday (the Friday immediately prior to the AFL Grand Final) a public holiday in the lead up to the election in November 2014.

We believe there are a number of reasons for also legislating Grand Final Friday as a public holiday.

1.  The Government promised to make Grand Final Friday a public holiday prior to the election

The ALP made a well publicised commitment to make Grand Final Friday a public holiday prior to the election in November 2014. It was widely known to the public when they voted. It was not an obscure policy hidden away in the ALP Policy Platform unknown to the public.

It can clearly be said that the Government has a mandate to implement the policy it promoted strongly to the voters.

2.  Grand Final Friday replaces Melbourne Show Day

Up until 1993 Melbourne Show Day (or an alternative Show Day in regional Victoria) was a public holiday for some workers including retail workers (either a full day or a half day holiday).

Melbourne Show Day was the fourth Thursday in September. Often (although not this year) Grand Final Friday will be the day immediately following what was Melbourne Show Day.

In effect Grand Final Friday replaces Melbourne Show Day which was stripped off workers by the Kennett Liberal Government in 1993.

3.  Public holidays for sporting events are common in Australia

It is not at all unusual in Australia to have a public holiday based around a sporting event. Current public holidays in different regions of Australia based around sporting events include:

In NSW:
Walcha Cup
Albury Gold Cup
Scone Cup
Ramornie Race Day
Grafton Cup Day
Coffs Harbour Gold Cup
Ballina Race Cup Day
Lismore Cup Day
Musswellbrook Cup

In SA:
Adelaide Cup Day

In Tasmania:
Royal Hobart Regatta Day

In Victoria:
Warrnambool Cup Day
Geelong Cup Day
Bendigo Cup Day
Melbourne Cup Day
Kyneton Cup Day
Wodonga Gold Cup Day

Wodonga Cup Day is new and has been introduced to attract tourism to the Cup.

Each of these regions seems to believe that there are economic benefits for the region in building up these special local events and attracting tourism.

4.  It has the potential to be good for tourism in Victoria

If the Government and the AFL work together this has the potential to build up the AFL Grand Final as a tourism long weekend with benefits for the retail and hospitality industries.

The Spring Racing Carnival is an example of how this may work.

See attached article

5.  It is common in developed countries to have 13 or more public holidays

Having 13 public holidays per year in Victoria is not unusual by the standards of developed countries.

There are a range of countries overseas which have 13 or more public holidays. Examples seem to include:

Sweden 13 / Indonesia 19
Finland 13 / Japan 16
Austria 13 / South Korea 15
Poland 13 / Taiwan 22
Hungary 14 / Hong Kong 16
Slovakia 15 / Malaysia 13
Germany (varies by state) 9-13 / Thailand 23
Switzerland (varies by canton) 9-15
Alsace and Moselle regions of France 13
Malta 14 / India (varies by State)
Delhi 16
Kerala 18
West Bengal 23
Turkey 13
Spain 12-14
Bulgaria 13
Croatia 14
Iceland 14
Cyprus 13

Workers in all supermarkets in Victoria were entitled to 12 public holidays up until 1993 plus in addition they were never required to work on Easter Sunday as the shops were required to close.

Having 13 public holidays inclusive of Easter Sunday is simply restoring the status quo which existed in Victoria up until 1993.

Regulatory Impact Statement

The SDA says that the benefit of the two additional public holidays outweighs the costs. In that regard the RIS has significantly underestimated the benefit of the public holidays and has overestimated the costs.

Benefit of Public Holidays

The RIS itself seems to concede that it has not been able to value the benefit of the two additional public holidays.

In the Executive Summary it says:

“The benefits of coordinated leisure time have not been estimated in this RIS due to a lack of available, robust information on their potential size in this context.”

“This RIS is seeking the community’s feedback on the proposed Easter Sunday and the Friday before the AFL Grand Final public holidays and their supporting analysis. It is also seeking feedback on the likelihood that the community would sufficiently value the additional coordinated leisure time created by the new public holidays to support the overall proposal.”

In the body of the report on page 13 it says:

“Studies considered as part of this analysis suggest that the individual value of leisure time could range between 50 per cent and 100 per cent of average earnings.”

The SDA strongly disputes the assessment of the value of a public holiday to employees as being equal to ordinary pay or, even worse, to only 50% of ordinary pay.

Based on our experience of talking to members who work in the retail and fast food industries they highly value public holidays.