Massive change comes to Bunnings as 40,000 employees are told they can work four days a week – AND given a hefty pay rise
- First Australian four-day work week to be trialled at Bunnings
- Full-time employees can ask to work 38 hours over four days
- Bunnings employees will receive a 10.5 percent pay increase in 2025
Bunnings becomes the first Australian retailer to trial a four-day workweek with its 40,000 employees to receive a 10.5 per cent pay rise and five weeks’ holiday a year by 2025 under a new ‘breakthrough’ deal.
The agreement with the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) makes the four-day work week a reality for thousands of retail employees.
Full-time Bunnings staff will be given the option to work their 38-hour workweek for four days instead of five or nine days every two weeks.
A wage increase of 10.5 percent will be implemented over the next three years, with employees receiving 4.5 percent this year and 3 percent in 2024 and 2025. Australian financial statement reports.
The SDA National Secretary, Gerard Dwyer, said the deal, announced on Friday, was a “significant breakthrough for work-life balance.”
Bunnings will become the first Aussie retailer to trial the four-day work week with its 40,000-strong workforce soon to benefit from a deal called a
The new agreement announced Friday gives full-time Bunnings employees the option to work 38 hours over a four-day work week or nine days fortnight
“This package is good for both employees and this major retailer, making Bunnings an employer of choice in a tight retail market,” Mr Dwyer told the AFR.
The new company deal was welcomed by the SDA after Bunnings initially scrapped their previous proposal in 2020.
According to Bunnings general manager Mike Schneider, the withdrawal of the agreement was designed to provide workers with security and increase job security during the pandemic.
The agreement was delayed nearly 12 months by the Fair Work Commission, which Mr. led Schneider to label it a “never-ending cycle of revision.”
The agreement follows Bunnings’ long track record in terms of benefits, said chief people officer Damian Zahra.
Other major Australian employers are expected to resume negotiations with unions after the pandemic, including Coles and ANZ Bank.