Student workers should be allowed to do two-hour shifts, retailers have been saying at a hearing in Melbourne.
Retail bodies and young Australian income tax payers are calling for legislation that requires a three-hour shift minimum to be overturned.
The rule is putting student jobs at risk, say workers and the National Retail Association, Master Grocers Australia and the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), who are together challenging the general retail industry award at a Fair Work Australia hearing.
Many supermarkets and grocery stores have had to stop offering work to school students, saying that as they can only work after their classes and with stores often closing around 5.30pm, they cannot do the required minimum of three hours.
The ruling came into effect in January in a bid to modernise employment law and streamline the rules into a national system.
It has already meant that many students have lost their jobs, with others threatened, said ARA spokeswoman Yvonne Anderson.
However, the Australian Council of Trade Unions claimed that the rule prevents exploitation of casual workers and protects people such as working mums.
Retail bodies and young Australian income tax payers are calling for legislation that requires a three-hour shift minimum to be overturned.
The rule is putting student jobs at risk, say workers and the National Retail Association, Master Grocers Australia and the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), who are together challenging the general retail industry award at a Fair Work Australia hearing.
Many supermarkets and grocery stores have had to stop offering work to school students, saying that as they can only work after their classes and with stores often closing around 5.30pm, they cannot do the required minimum of three hours.
The ruling came into effect in January in a bid to modernise employment law and streamline the rules into a national system.
It has already meant that many students have lost their jobs, with others threatened, said ARA spokeswoman Yvonne Anderson.
However, the Australian Council of Trade Unions claimed that the rule prevents exploitation of casual workers and protects people such as working mums.
