The Fair Work Commission’s decision to reduce penalty rates for Sundays and holidays in retail and hospitality jobs will reinforce wage stagnation and further widen income inequality, according to Dr. Jim Stanford, Director of the Centre for Future Work.

“It’s painfully ironic that the Fair Work Commission’s decision was released just a day after the ABS confirmed the pace of Australian wages had already slowed to the worst in the history of their data,” Dr. Stanford said. ABS data showed annual wage increases in the year to December 2016 fell to just 1.87 percent.

“The economic argument that business will open longer, creating jobs has no basis. It will simply spread limited demand, and therefore jobs, over a longer period without increased employment. Lower wages will not lead to lower prices, they cannot boost consumer spending, and they will not create new jobs.”