Concerns about rising costs to retailers have been raised by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) in its presentation to the Australian Industrial Relations Commissions (AIRC) hearings for award modernisation transitional issues.

The ARA is particularly concerned about sharp increases to labour costs through casual loadings, changes to retail employment classifications, clothing and laundry allowances, and penalties for ordinary time worked on Sundays.

ARA executive director Russell Zimmerman said “Right now, increased wage bills will simply be unsustainable for smaller retailers who have said they will shed staff to cope with the new laws. They need the full transitional period to stagger the impact of increased wage bills over five years.”

The Australian Fair Pay Commission (AFPC) has made a landmark decision to maintain minimum wages at current levels to protect jobs and support stronger economic recovery and Zimmerman said the same rationale must be applied to any increase in wage bills as a result of the modern retail award.

“If the full transition period isnÍt utilised, retailers will be faced with three options: further casualisation of the retail workforce; shedding staff and reducing weekend trading. The culmination of these alternatives will result in increased job insecurity and a failure to meet consumer demand,” Zimmerman said.