Guild pushes decrease in penalty rates
7 January, 2015 Christie Moffat 59 comments
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The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has submitted a formal request to the Fair Work Commission, calling for a decrease in penalty rates.
In a letter to the Commission lawyers representing the Guild said they were seeking a decrease in the penalty rates payable on weekends and on public holidays.
The Guild estimated that it would call up to 50 industry witnesses to provide evidence.
The letter included an estimation that the hearing of evidence could last anywhere between 10 and 16 days, accounting for 5-8 days of common evidence and 5-8 days of specific community pharmacy evidence.
The Commission is carrying out its compulsory four-yearly review of modern awards, including the Pharmacy Industry Award 2010 which dictates penalty rates for pharmacy staff.
The Guild’s lawyers said they anticipated being in a position to file a draft determination in late March, and then file submissions and evidence in late June.
The submission follows a meeting between the Guild and Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA) in November last year, where the two groups discussed future changes to the Pharmacy Industry Award.
At the time PPA opposed any reduction in penalty rates and said the current model was not working for 20,000 employed pharmacists, as well as some owners.
PPA had not responded to inquiries at time of publication.