Canberra's small business owners and casual employees have weighed in on Thursday's recommendation by the Fair Work Commission to cut weekend penalty rates, affecting Canberra's 26,000 retail and hospitality staff.
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Owner of Braddon fashion store Pink Ink Jane Petterson said on Friday she welcomed the rate cuts, which were necessary in today's society where consumers expected to be able to shop 24/7.
"For small businesses to be able to meet those needs and to remain competitive, and to have a business that's viable, [wages need] to be comparable on the seven days," Ms Petterson said.
"I would hope that this change does not see the vulnerable or those who need work get taken advantage of."
Ms Petterson said she paid her staff above the current award but said higher rates hampered growth for some businesses.
"I'm certainly not into exploiting workers, we reward our staff," she said.
Ms Petterson said small businesses were a big employer in Australia and it was unfair for people to be portrayed as money-hungry when she was taking a risk too.
"Sundays aren't the day it used to be. Extra money on a Sunday is a sense of entitlement for wages," she said.
"Why should they work one day a week and earn more than someone who works two days."
Ms Petterson said she would soon be opening a second store and hiring two young employees.
Retail employee Grace Shalders worked on weekends and said the commission's ruling was a "shortsighted, crazy decision".
"I really do like being able to, I dunno, afford my car registration at times or go out on a date," Ms Shalders said.
Ms Shalders said she would have less money to spend at small businesses, like IGA, which she always tried to support.
"It's obviously targeting what is disproportionately the poorest part of society."
Ms Shalders said she hoped the rate cut meant places charging weekend surcharges to compensate for higher wages would remove it or match the rates to the new award.
She also questioned why, if weekends were less valuable, she couldn't spend the time she spent on the phone to Centrelink on Friday on a Sunday instead.
"I don't have time in the uni week, most uni students don't have time," Ms Shalders said.
"Unions campaigned for an eight-hour work day and for weekends, it's proven time and time again that humans kind of need downtime."
The changes to penalty rates would not effect employees under an existing enterprise bargaining agreement.
