Public holiday surcharge?

Depending on the award, public holidays attract between double to quadruple the normal weekday wage. In most of Canberra’s electrical retailers, public holidays were the sweetest day to work cashier, earning those staff about double what the sales people on commission ended up getting.

djk said :

Morgan said :

I have never understood why certain parts of the hospitality industry think they can surcharge based on the days of the week.

Trousers dont cost more on Sundays
Schooners dont cost more on Sundays
Groceries dont cost more on Sundays
Train tickets often cost less on Sundays
Birthday Cards dont cost more on Sundays
Big Macs dont cost more on Sundays

Then why does the Bigbreakfast with a Long Black cost 10% more? I know that staff costs are higher on Public Holidays, but surely the patronage is also higher? Why is it only hospitality which gets away with this?

+1. Same with bus fares, hair cuts or most other services – it costs more to pay the staff on those days and we don’t get slugged with a surcharge.

I agree with the “if you don’t like it, don’t eat there” sentiment, but you have to ask why it is allowed to be charged in the first place.

Umm. Hairdressers usually aren’t open on public holidays and busses are run less often, requiring less staff. So, yeah, they do “slug” you in some way so as to cover the higher wage costs.

Morgan said :

I have never understood why certain parts of the hospitality industry think they can surcharge based on the days of the week.

Trousers dont cost more on Sundays
Schooners dont cost more on Sundays
Groceries dont cost more on Sundays
Train tickets often cost less on Sundays
Birthday Cards dont cost more on Sundays
Big Macs dont cost more on Sundays

Then why does the Bigbreakfast with a Long Black cost 10% more? I know that staff costs are higher on Public Holidays, but surely the patronage is also higher? Why is it only hospitality which gets away with this?

+1. Same with bus fares, hair cuts or most other services – it costs more to pay the staff on those days and we don’t get slugged with a surcharge.

I agree with the “if you don’t like it, don’t eat there” sentiment, but you have to ask why it is allowed to be charged in the first place.

pezza said :

dvaey said :

We ordered pizza last night and got hit with the surcharge too… I wonder if theyre paying staff penalty rates yet to justify the surcharge?

I’ve always been paid double time on public holidays.

I never got the separate menu legislation anyway. Surely as long as you’re informed of any additional charges before you make the purchase that should suffice?

And to the OP, would you have been more likely to order food if the 15% surcharge had silently been listed in the menu once you sat down instead of advertised before you enter the premises?

Even with our separate menu we get people complaining. If you want me to give up my day off so that you don’t have to cook dinner, then how about you compensate me for that.

I think the issue some people have here Pezza is that not all staff are paid penalty rates for public holidays & week-ends. It depends on their EBA’s or contracts.
In these cases it seems a bit greedy of the restaurants to charge the surcharge if their costs aren’t affected.

Morgan said :

I have never understood why certain parts of the hospitality industry think they can surcharge based on the days of the week.

Staff get paid time and a half on sundays (usually).

Otherwise, yes i agree with you for every other day of the week,

Mummy, it’s not FAIR.

Canberra is already an expensive city, and the cafes here are no different. This is the case for no reason other than that people will pay.

I have never understood why certain parts of the hospitality industry think they can surcharge based on the days of the week.

Trousers dont cost more on Sundays
Schooners dont cost more on Sundays
Groceries dont cost more on Sundays
Train tickets often cost less on Sundays
Birthday Cards dont cost more on Sundays
Big Macs dont cost more on Sundays

Then why does the Bigbreakfast with a Long Black cost 10% more? I know that staff costs are higher on Public Holidays, but surely the patronage is also higher? Why is it only hospitality which gets away with this?

dvaey said :

We ordered pizza last night and got hit with the surcharge too… I wonder if theyre paying staff penalty rates yet to justify the surcharge?

I’ve always been paid double time on public holidays.

I never got the separate menu legislation anyway. Surely as long as you’re informed of any additional charges before you make the purchase that should suffice?

And to the OP, would you have been more likely to order food if the 15% surcharge had silently been listed in the menu once you sat down instead of advertised before you enter the premises?

Even with our separate menu we get people complaining. If you want me to give up my day off so that you don’t have to cook dinner, then how about you compensate me for that.

davo101 said :

The requirement to have separate menus including any surcharges is being quietly dropped. None of the cafes I go to in Canberra, that charge weekend surcharges, bothered to print separate menus anyway.

So, what is the current legalities?
These are proposed changes….have things changed back?

gospeedygo said :

“Let the bears pay the bear tax. I pay the Homer tax.”

Dad! That’s the Home Owner tax!

The requirement to have separate menus including any surcharges is being quietly dropped. None of the cafes I go to in Canberra, that charge weekend surcharges, bothered to print separate menus anyway.

“Let the bears pay the bear tax. I pay the Homer tax.”

dvaey said :

We ordered pizza last night and got hit with the surcharge too… I wonder if theyre paying staff penalty rates yet to justify the surcharge?

Where was the pizza from?

We ordered pizza last night and got hit with the surcharge too… I wonder if theyre paying staff penalty rates yet to justify the surcharge?