Australian retailers who opened their stores across the Easter weekend were forced to bear the brunt of much higher costs, with penalty rates applicable for up to four days in some states.

Australian Retailers Association (ARA) executive director Russell Zimmerman said many retailers did not open on the Easter long weekend due to prohibitive labour costs associated with public holiday penalty rates.

Penalty rates of up to two-and-a-half-times regular pay placed financial pressure on retail businesses, with small and medium enterprises among the hardest hit.

The ARA believes retail penalty rates must be addressed to allow businesses to respond to customer needs. The ARA is currently engaged in a review of General Retail Industry Award 2010 (GRIA), with the aim of reducing costs for retailers, particularly on Sundays, with independent arbitrator Fair Work Commission (FWC).

Russell said consumers expected retailers to be open on the Easter long weekend where laws allow, and retail businesses are forced to wear the higher costs as a result. “With the dawn of online retail and the effects of globalisation, we now live in a 24/7 economy,” he said.

“Australian lifestyles are changing, and it is important to allow physical retailers the scope to be able to keep up with this change and compete effectively, to provide consumers with the access and convenience to shopping they expect.

“For most Australians, weekends and public holidays are seen as normal shopping days, making above normal penalty rates unnecessary.”

Penalty rates were introduced in the early 1900s as compensation for employees’ work performed outside ‘normal’ hours. However, the ARA argues in 2016, standard working hours no longer fit the traditional pattern of nine-to-five, Monday to Friday.

“Excessive penalty rates not only hurt business owners, but impact on the shopping experience, which is crucial to a retailer’s capacity to compete,” Russell said.

“A reduction in penalty rates will have a number of benefits for the community and economy, in addition to cost reductions for retail businesses.

“Retailers would be able to afford to employ more staff for more hours, which will lead to more money in the pockets of these workers, increasing their spending power and a stronger economy overall.”