Major Aussie employer Kmart pushes to end the ‘10 minute’ break for workers in entitlements overhaul

Aussie workers could soon see the end of the historic 10-minute work break, with Kmart telling the Fair Work Commission workers no longer want a traditional “smoko” during their shift.

The major retailer, which employs around 38,000 people, said their younger employees had no need for the break as they usually “carry water” on their shift and smoking is no longer prevalent, the Australian Financial Review reported on Thursday.

Kmart’s submission was in support of the Australian Retailer’s Association (ARA) application for 17 changes to industry awards.

The ARA is arguing that employees should have the right to take their 10-minute rest break at the end of their shift. It also wants to waive unpaid meal breaks for shifts up to six hours and believes bosses should not have to roster a break in advance.

The association also wants to reduce the legal gap between shifts from 12 hours to 10 hours.

Other amendments the ARA wants include not having to pay loading to full-time staff for overtime, evening and weekend work if they are paid in excess of 25 per cent above standard rates.

“The majority of our workforce is representative of a younger demographic who would often prefer to waive their meal break because they already carry water with them during shift and because smoking rates are now far less prevalent,” Kmart head of supply operations, Chris Melton, wrote in a statement to the commission.

Unions are opposing the ARA push and warn its proposals could see the end of the rest break.

On Friday, Triple M’s Luke Bona and former Gold Coast Bulletin editor Cath Webber joined Nat Barr for Hot Topics on Sunrise and railed against the proposal.

“This is a smokescreen, this is about the Australian Retailers Association going into bat with a number of big retailers.

“What they want to do is they want to get rid of awards and they are saying, ‘OK, we will pay you an extra 25 per cent if we get rid of the penalty rates, Sundays, public holidays and those breaks for people’.

“It is nothing to do with smoko. It is about getting workers to do away with their entitlements and saying, we will pay you an extra 25 per cent if you actually do away with them.

“Read between the lines with this. There is more to this than meets the eye, trust me.”

Webber was equally outraged.

“I think it is Tiktok-o (rather than ‘smoko’). They don’t care if it is Tiktok-o. They don’t care if it is water, coffee, vape, they want to check their phone.

“I agree with Luke. It is a slippery slope. Laws are there to protect vulnerable people.

“On face value, I would be the person to say I want to work through and get to the end and go 10 minutes early, but the reality is most common sense Aussies and employers and employees can work it out.

“It is the dodgy employers you are trying to protect people from. When you were young in our day you smoked so you genuinely could get a break.

“Everyone was out there. You felt sorry for people who didn’t smoke.”