Workers’ penalty

IF WORKERS IN THE MAINLAND SOUTHERN STATES GET PENALTY RATES ON BOXING DAY, WHY SHOULDN’T TERRITORIANS? SDA SECRETARY JOSH PEAK

THE Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) has called for Territorian workers to receive penalty rates on Boxing Day.

The Northern Territory is the only mainland state or territory where workers rostered to work on December 26 do not receive penalty rates.

The SDA Northern Territory secretary Josh Peak has called for the government to provide workers missing the Boxing Day Test or precious time with family to receive extra pay.

Mr Peak said the Territory government could amend the laws to better reflect worker attitudes in 2021.

“The Territory’s Public Holidays Act – written in 1981 – is no longer fit for purpose,” he said.

“It’s as old as the first IBM computer and it’s leaving Territorians behind.”

Mr Peak said the NT government had previously declared December 26 a holiday on one-off occasions, including in 2020, but this was not enshrined in law. “While announcements like this are welcome, a legislated fix is needed to fix the issue for good,” he said.

Mr Peak also highlighted that most other Australian jurisdictions had made Boxing Day a public holiday, granting their workers penalty rates.

“Working in the Territory should not make you a second-class citizen,” he said.

“If workers in the mainland southern states get penalty rates on Boxing Day, why shouldn’t Territorians?

“The Territory government needs to prioritise fixing the Public Holidays Act so that no Territorian should ever have to choose between spending time with their family over the festive period or having to go to work without public holiday penalty rates.”

Mr Peak said awarding penalty rates would benefit frontline workers who had spent the previous two years keeping Territorians safe. “They can’t work from home, and they can’t always take time off on days where so many other Territorians are able to stop, take stock and enjoy some time away,” he said.