Unhappy Easter for bars

Two-thirds of pubs and restaurants are likely to be closed at some stage during Easter trading hours, says the Hospitality Association.

Chief executive Bruce Robertson said the hospitality sector had been hit hard by the Holidays Act introduced late last year, and many would prefer to close during public holidays rather than open and lose money.

Under the new law, staff who work on a public holiday are paid time-and-a-half for hours worked, and also receive a day off in lieu.

The association surveyed its members in February on the impact of the changes. The results showed the industry was clearly not happy.

Of 528 responses, representing businesses employing about 10,000 people, 80.5 per cent said the Holidays Act had had a negative or extremely negative impact on their businesses, while 79 per cent described complying with it as difficult.

"Significantly, the act has resulted in many businesses not opening on public holidays," Mr Robertson said.

Over Christmas 2003-04, hospitality businesses closed for an average of 1.5 days. After the new legislation, this increased to 2.9 days last Christmas.

Mr Robertson said he was not surprised by the survey results.

"Too many of them operated at a loss, and they have opted to close rather than opening only to lose money."

Figures showed that 66.5 per cent of establishments closed on some or all of the statutory holidays over the Christmas-New Year period, with those opening imposing a surcharge.

However, fewer than 5 per cent of association members said that the surcharge they applied actually covered their additional costs.

"It's understandable that so few of them are going to open this weekend," Mr Robertson said.

"We may well get back to the days when international visitors were saying that they came here and found that New Zealand wasclosed."

Many staff wanted to work during the weekend but the survey showed that both workers and operators were losing out, "as is the public, which now has limited choices during holidays".

National's industrial relations spokesman, Wayne Mapp, said the Holidays Act effectively meant labour costs were 150 per cent higher on a public holiday than on a normal working day.

"When restaurants, bars and cafes close on public holidays, everyone loses - employees don't get paid, businesses don't make any profit and people don't have anywhere to go for a coffee.

"The Holidays Act marks a return to the bad old days when New Zealand shut down on public holidays.

"That's just not realistic in this day and age, and foreign visitors must think they have stepped back into the dark ages."

If National regained power, he said, it would overhaul the law to ensure employers did not face the costs that saw so many businesses close on public holidays.

- NZPA