National Day of Mourning for the Queen slammed by small business owners in Australia

Small business owners have struck on Australia’s National Day of Mourning for the Queen in Australia, claiming the holiday will be a crippling blow to their trade.

Millions of Australians are staying at home on the day off to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II after her death earlier this month.

However, some business owners say it will cause chaos for their jobs, forcing them to cancel customers, struggle with inventory and face severe penalties for staffing issues.

In Victoria, residents have a four-day weekend with two public holidays in a row because of the AFL Grand Final, giving entrepreneurs a hard time.

“It’s going to kill us. We have three days to work six days into the third busiest week of the year for us,” said Melbourne butcher Mark Rothfield. A current matter.

Mr Rothfield runs Porterhaus Butchers in Melbourne’s Moonee Ponds and said the short notice before the holiday is causing him problems with the stock.

‘After Wednesday we can’t get any more (stock). No delivery Thursday, no delivery Friday, no delivery Saturday. It’s going to be a tough week.

“Out of nowhere it ruined everything, it turned everything upside down.”

Jarrod Moore, the manager of restaurant B.East, said it is always a huge problem to staff his restaurant on holidays.

“We have to give our full-time staff another day off and somehow find a few casual employees to cover them,” said Mr. Moore.

‘And in the current hospitality climate that is of course quite difficult.’

Salon owner Tarik Jasarevic, who works in Richmond, has decided to close the shop and rebook all of his clients for future dates.

‘As an entrepreneur, I don’t like to change someone’s appointment. People book for a reason and they might go to a birthday party or weddings or things like that,” Jasarevic said.

“But if we have to change it and cancel it, that’s no fun for anyone.”

Tim Piper of the Australian Industry Group revealed how he’s been answering calls from members who are about to lose money this week.

Pictured: Grenadier guards carry the Queen’s coffin at Westminster Abbey

“So a manufacturing company with 70 employees is going to cost them between $35,000 and $40,000,” said Mr. Piper.

“The reason for that is that they can’t bring anything forward. If you have two public holidays in a row, that’s all you have to deal with.’

Supermarkets such as Coles, Woolworths and Aldi, plus pubs, restaurants and hangouts will be allowed to operate normally across the country.

Schools will also be closed, as will banks and financial services – with differences between states.