The McDonald's agreement with the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees Association is an example. Under the deal, McDonald's pays no penalty rates on weekends, not a cracker.
But the fast food award – the legal pay and conditions safety net – sets penalty rates at 25 per cent on Saturday and 50 per cent on Sunday (higher still for casuals).
The Macca's deal underlines the grotesque unreality of the penalties debate.
Australia's award system looks great on paper, a safety net of generally decent wages and conditions that compares well to the pittance earned by the low paid in the US and elsewhere.
Yet at the cowboy end of the labour market, foreign workers are routinely exploited in "black jobs", the 7-Eleven scandal the most high-profile case to date.
Anecdotally, judging from the flood of emails after the Fairfax "black jobs" series in October, paying penalty rates is regarded as optional by many small hospitality businesses.
But you'd assume that those who work for the country's largest employers, under union agreements, would be paid proper, award rates.
Not so.
Coles, McDonald's and Woolworths, Australia's three biggest employers, have agreements that substantially undercut minimum conditions, including penalty rates.
Trading off penalty rates for higher ordinary-hour wages can be fine, as long as the wages are raised sufficiently.
At McDonald's, and elsewhere, they clearly are not.
