Remember when the working week ended on Friday? Remember when shops closed at lunchtime on Saturdays forcing everyone to hang around with their families not buying things all weekend? Then you’re probably over 35.
The push for a 24/7 economy gobbled up the weekend in many industries, but it isn’t full yet. It’s still hungry.
Now the banks want changes to allow weekend trading (some banks do, but only those who have negotiated individual contracts) and the retail industry which already has its weekend trade deregulated is pushing to open on the last of the traditionally untouchable public holidays like Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Is it not enough that most of us are already physically plugged into the work zone through our laptops and mobile phones?
Ross Gittins wrote brilliantly on the matter this week:
“Whether or not they realise what they’re doing, Australia’s business people, economists and politicians are in the process of dismantling the weekend and phasing out public holidays. And they’re doing it in the name of making us better off.
Historically, the two arrangements that have protected the weekend and public holidays from encroachment by employers are state government restrictions on trading hours and the requirement in industrial awards that employees required to work at ”unsociable hours” be paid an additional penalty rate.
But this belief that life would be better if shops, restaurants and places of entertainment were open all hours rests on the assumption you and I won’t be among those required to work unsociable hours to make it happen. An even less obvious assumption is that the push for a 24/7 economy will stop when it has captured shopping and entertainment; it won’t continue and reach those of us who work in factories and offices.”
Take a look at your own working conditions: are you working longer hours than you should be? Weekends? Into the evenings?
Do you have to get up before you went to bed, or does it feel like it?
The argument for all of this is the Australian economy will eventually win the day and hey, isn’t that great for everyone? Of course! Having access to more money and more financial security is just perfect, because everyone likes to feel more secure while not spending time with their family and friends.
You might be working all the time, but at least you know you could enjoy it if only you weren’t … working all the time.
So, are you a fan of being able to shop, wine and dine 24/7? Or would you rather some restrictions be in place? Where’s the middle-ground?
Top Comments
I have read many of people's comments from both ends of the spectrum, both Monday to Friday 9-5 workers, and retail or 'un-social' trading hour workers like myself.
As a Uni student working in retail I struggle to have a social life for two reasons. 1) I can't afford to due to the lack of opportunities to work, and 2) the only opportunity I do get to work is when my friends and family play. The sad thing is, I have no other option. The system we are currently running here in Australia doesn't allow a solution to this problem. What we are lacking here is BALANCE, and we need balance in every aspect of our lives.
I agree with the 9-5 workers who have no time to get their necessities done. I am yet to experience this but once I finish my degree I will become one of them and am dreading this situation.
But on the other hand, I feel for those families who don't get a chance to spend time together due to the horrible hours they have to work.
As a solution to the 9 - 5 workers, I don't see any problem with extended trading hours and weekend trade. I think Banks and Post offices should also be open these extended trading hours as these are NECESSITIES for all working and studying Australian's. In regard to leisurely shopping such as apparel, I also believe extended trading hours and weekends are sufficiently justified, as this provides for an activity for us to spend time with our loved ones. It also allows for students such as myself to have more flexibility in regard to their working hours. I would no longer be restricted solely to Satuday and Sunday trade, I will have the flexibility and the option to work during the week before and after uni.
However, I believe Public Holidays should be CLOSED no questions asked. After all, they are called PUBLIC holidays aren't they? This allows ALL Australians (especially those like myself) to reunite and enjoy much needed time with their friends and family.
After working in retail for the past 6 years I have witnessed the craziness of people when they realize the shopping centres are closed for ONE DAY. They react more distressed to this than they do when they hear of an Earthquake that has taken many lives. This actually disgusts me.
Like I mentioned at the beginning, what we need is BALANCE. We need to work toward an environment that suits and benefits ALL AUSTRALIANS because as many people have mentioned, we are moving toward a world where 9-5 is no longer the 'norm'. I say YES to extended trading hours, I say YES to weekend trade, but i say NO to Public Holidays.
Australian's, we need to get our priorities right here, is a new top, or pair of pants more important than bonding and enjoying time with your friends and family?
I have worked in retail for the last 14 years and am curently looking for a job since finishing my degree last year - and I cannot wait for a 9-5 job!
I completely understand the convenience of longer trading hours and public holidays, but I think there needs to be a limit. Apart from working til a longer time, you also have to factor in travel to and from home. Not everyone has the luxury of living a short distance from where they work! I now work at a coffee franchise just a five minute from home at the local shops where I worked in my last year of uni and while I'm job-searching. It's great, because even though we close at 7 on weekdays (and then another 1/2 hr to clean up and close up) I'm home by 7.40pm. We were closed Good Friday and only open 7am til noon today which is good because we don't get SUnday or holiday loading at all, so it's better to be closed!
But I used to work at a department store which was a 55 minute train ride away, and we closed at 7. If I was lucky and really bolted I could make the early train and get home by 8.15pm. But chances are, there was always a customer hovering around at 7.05 wanting to try things on or asking questions and since I refuse to give rude or crappy service, I'd stick around to serve them. Which meant getting the later train and more often than not I'd be walking in the door at 8.45pm.
I haven't had a Christmas with my family for 6 years since I moved to Sydney either, because even though retail stores close on Christmas day, they certainly don't on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day - and who can get a flight for a single day on retail wages? I could never afford forking out $6-700 on flights for a week-long trip, let alone a single day!
Personally I have no problem with shops open on a Sunday, but I think Christmas eve, day and boxing day shop should all be closed so that there can be a few days off where everyone can actually see family and stuff. The world won't end if people have to do their last minute shopping on the day before christmas eve and it also won't end if they can't start their mad sales shopping the day after!
I also think that having one or two day (Thurs and/or Fri) as late night shopping is great, but that should be it. Close the shops at 6 the other nights, because there are thousands and thousands of people who do have no other working option than retail, and we have families and friends that we'd like to be with also. I found myself constantly feeling ill and getting sick because I'd have my lunch break at 1 (when I was told I had to take it), and I was getting home at 8.45pm only to have to cook dinner before I could eat - which meant I didn't eat dinner til after 9pm most nights. I understand that some people work office jobs that go til 6 or 7pm on weeknights, but surely either weekend day and a late night weekday is sufficient to get some shopping done? Maybe as I've never worked those jobs I don't understand, but after nearly 15 years of being told huffily by many customers that I should be working til 10pm or even midnight on Christmas Eve, my patience has waned! :)
My younger sister also worked at a store once that did 24 hours Christmas trading and since 11pm til 6am in the morning is hardly peak times, there was minimal staff and minimal security. I got a phonecall at 3am one morning from my terrified sister saying she just needed to hear a friendly voice because the only 'customers' around at that time were a group of drunk guys that leered at her and harrassed her. There's never going to be enough business during those hours for store owners to justify putting on more staff, and thus the staff that DO have to work can end up feeling threatened and unsafe, like my sister.
I can deal with longer trading hours, even on weekends, but if 24/7 hour trading ever becomes the norm I will be most displeased!