‘We don’t want workers robbed of pay twice’: SA bill slammed

The South Australian government is considering legislative changes that could limit workers’ ability to pursue compensation for alleged historical underpayments linked to Sunday shifts.

Class actions backed by Shine Lawyers and the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) alleged major retailers and fast-food chains in South Australia failed to provide proper public holiday penalty rates for Sunday work.

The proposed reforms aim to provide greater certainty for employers but have sparked concern from unions, lawyers, and affected workers.

The state’s Statutes Amendment (Industrial Relations Portfolio) Bill 2026 is designed to amend both the Explosives Act 2024 and the Public Holidays Act 2023.

With respect to public holidays, the bill alters the Public Holidays Act 2023 by replacing transitional arrangements that pertain to Sundays.

The bill specifies that, notwithstanding the Holidays Act 1910, Sundays preceding the new laws’ commencement are not automatically classified as public holidays solely by virtue of being Sundays.

Critics argue that retrospective changes could prevent workers from recovering wages they say were lawfully owed under the rules at the time.

According to the allegations raised in the proceedings, several employers – such as McDonald’s, Big W, Woolworths, and Hungry Jack’s – violated modern awards and enterprise agreements.

Furthermore, the claims state that these companies breached sections 89(1) and 98(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) due to a failure to correctly afford public holiday entitlements, such as public holiday penalty rates, to employees working Sunday shifts.

In a statement, Shine Lawyers noted that Freya Wirper worked at Woolworths from January 2022 – March 2024 while in high school, and joined the class action to recover lost earnings.

“Due to full-time study the main days I worked were weekends and public holidays,” Wirper said.

“As a casual junior my rates were already not that high, however for adults on a different award the lack of money would be a larger concern in order to maintain a livelihood.”

“As a young person trying to move towards financial independence, it is increasingly hard to reach that goal as big companies continue to acquire mass profits and steadily increase the cost of living through price gouging.”

Benjamin Dal-Corobbo – who worked at McDonald’s in Adelaide as a teenager – also joined the class action.

“This legislation is just protecting big business. I joined this class action to recover money I worked for,” Dal-Corobbo said.

“Money that workers have earned should be in their own pockets, not kept in the pockets of the big companies who’ve hired them,” he said.

Shine Lawyers head of class actions Craig Allsopp commented on the proposed South Australian legislation affecting ongoing wage underpayment claims before the Federal Court.

“We are deeply concerned that the proposed legislation appears designed to retrospectively remove workers’ ability to seek compensation for alleged underpayments that occurred years ago,” Allsopp said.

“Whatever certainty the government says this bill may provide to employers, it will not repay lost earnings to workers who performed Sunday shifts and say they were denied public holiday entitlements under the law as it stood at the time.”

“These claims are before the Federal Court and should be determined through the proper legal process.”

“Retrospective legislation that seeks to defeat existing claims raises serious questions about fairness and access to justice.”

“We encourage any current or former South Australian retail or fast-food worker who worked Sunday shifts during the relevant period to register their interest in our class action and understand whether they may be affected.”

RAFFWU director of strategic litigation Josh Cullinan said the changes will have a significant impact on retail and fast-food workers seeking to recover allegedly unpaid wages for Sunday work.

“Tens of thousands of workers at these massive businesses were never paid the wages they were owed on Sundays,” Cullinan said.

“This new attack by the Malinauskas Labor government has big business salivating.”

“The Labor government knew every Sunday was a public holiday in South Australia.”

“No government should put big business before minimum wage workers … don’t let the Malinauskas Labor government steal wages again.”

As Parliament deliberates on the potential effects on current and future back-pay claims, the recommended amendments are anticipated to continue to face intense scrutiny.

“We don’t want workers robbed of pay twice as a result of SA government legislation,” Allsopp said.

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