Penalty rates are back in the news, as a decision will be handed down by January 20. Lower Sunday rates for the retail industry are expected which is great news for the country as a whole and for our industry. Russell Zimmerman talks about the issue. He also looks at counterfeiting and piracy. It’s not just about Rolex watches and LV handbags; recently, 40 tonnes of counterfeit Omo washing powder was confiscated by Customs!
With Australian retailers and shopping centres well into the Christmas 2016 trading period, everyone will be hoping for a bounce back in retail spending.
The latest Australian Retail Trade figures by the ABS for August showed 2.8% growth year on year. Some sectors are performing better than others. Supermarkets are widely known to be suffering from intense price competition and deflation, and at 50% of all retail sales, are a contributing cause to the lower growth compared to 12 months ago.
Despite this, there are other sectors performing well above growth expectations, including takeaway food, which is growing at 11.4% year on year, and clothing, footwear and personal accessories, with a 6.8% rise.
When broken out separately, clothing alone has seen 8.2% growth – incredibly positive for a group of retailers who were faring much less favourably 12 to 18 months ago. This is an interesting figure, as when speaking to retailers in clothing, many are not seeing this growth reflected in their stores.
The ARA’s reasoning for this is that, while individual businesses may not be growing sales, the sector is growing in size, thanks to a rise in the number of international players entering the local market.
Penalty rates
Having contributed financially, the shopping centre industry is well aware of the retail industry’s case with Fair Work to have Sunday retail penalty rates lowered (not eliminated) to more sustainable levels. The President of the Fair Work Commission, Iain Ross, has confirmed that the Fair Work Commission is committed to meeting its timeliness benchmarks for the release of the Penalty Rates Decision, with the Full Bench to begin considering its decision in November.
The benchmarks set for the Commission require the Full Bench to release the Penalty Rates Decision by January 20, 2017.
The President has said “it should be possible to develop a schedule to the award which provides that employees are paid a higher, loaded hourly rate of pay in lieu of an entitlement to penalty rates”.
The ARA believes such a regime, provided it does not come with an excessive administrative burden, would be of great benefit to small businesses in particular, as it would substantially simplify their payroll processes.
Counterfeiting countered
In other industry news, the ARA has formed a new group, AUSCAP (Australians to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy), a coalition of industry groups, businesses and trademark owners working to stop the illegal trade in consumer goods.
AUSCAP has been formed as a united front to engage with State and Federal governments to assist businesses seeking protection of their goods and intellectual property, and to protect consumers from counterfeit and fake goods.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has identified Australia as one of the leading intellectual property and customs environments in the world.
Infringements to IP rights – in particular wide-scale counterfeiting and piracy – now impact virtually every product category. The days when only luxury goods were counterfeited, or when unauthorised music CDs and movie DVDs were sold only on street corners are long past.
Today, counterfeiters are producing fake foods and beverages, pharmaceuticals, electronics and electrical supplies, auto parts and everyday household products. Copyright pirates have also created multi-million dollar networks to produce, transport and sell their unauthorised copies of music, video and software.
Newsworthy examples in Australia include the seizure by Customs of 40 tonnes of counterfeit Omo laundry powder from China, and the counterfeiting alleged in the case of MAC Cosmetics. AUSCAP will lead a delegation of members and concerned businesses to Canberra later this year to discuss how Australia can continue to improve on its region-leading illicit trade environment.
