HIGH penalty rates will force a number of local hotels, restaurants and cafes to close their doors or reduce their hours over the Easter long weekend.
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Knickerbocker Hotel owner Scott Macallister said it was not viable for the hotel to stay open across the four days as he would be paying his casual staff double time, or $50 an hour.
“If we stay open the whole time and are not busy, it’s like throwing money away,” he said.
Tourism Accommodation Australia managing director Rodger Powell said penalty rates of up to 275 per cent were making it impossible for hotels to deliver the service they would like to give patrons.
When the lobby group surveyed 225 accommodation providers, mainly full service hoteliers, they found that 107 outlets said they would make a loss if they opened on Good Friday or Easter Monday and 46 said they would just break even.
Mr Macallister said while the Knickerbocker Hotel would be open for normal trading hours on Saturday, it would be closed on Easter Sunday and operate between 3pm and 9pm on Good Friday and midday and 4pm on Easter Monday.
“What I’m trying to do is pick the busiest time to roster staff on,” he said.
“So on Friday, for instance, I will set up the whole place, then the bar manager who is on a salary will come in around 3 and the girls will come in around 5.15pm for the start of the seafood dinner,” he said. “Then as soon as it gets quiet, they’ll be out of there.”
Mr Macallister said it was a shame local businesses would be closing their doors to visitors who might be coming to Bathurst for the long weekend.
He said while he thought staff may deserve to be paid a little more on public holidays, high penalty rates were crippling the hospitality industry.
Dudley Hotel owner Robert “Stumpy” Taylor agreed and said it was wrong that a university student who could only work weekends got paid higher than someone with 20 years’ experience who worked weekdays.
Mr Taylor said due to the penalty rates the Dudley would be closed on Good Friday and would operate with half the number of staff over the rest of the long weekend.
“I’m cutting the shifts in half; those who normally work six hours will work three, but still get paid the same amount,” he said.
“I just can’t afford to keep everyone on their regular shifts.”
The high penalty rates are also affecting a number of restaurants and cafes like County Coffee, which will be closed for the four days.
Manager Jane Harvey said they would rather close the cafe so staff could enjoy the holiday weekend, instead of have to pay staff penalty rates when there may not be many customers.
“If we aren’t busy ... then as soon as we open the doors we will be losing money,” she said.
Despite the closure of the cafe, Ms Harvey said she supported penalty rates, as staff should be compensated for working on public holidays.
“They are missing out on all the fun everyone else is having, so they should be paid good money.”