Queen’s Memorial Day public holiday throws South West businesses into chaos ahead of school holiday peak

Retail and hospitality owners in one of WA’s school holiday tourism hotspots have been left in a “tail spin” preparing their businesses for the Queen’s Memorial public holiday. Some South West businesses will be forced to close for five days, while others fears staff won’t show up at all. Schools and daycare centres across the State will also be closed for the one-off September 22 public holiday and reopen for the last day of school on September 23, further compounding the impact on businesses’ ability to open. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the one-off national day of mourning to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8 with WA’s Commerce Minister Roger Cook confirming public holiday trading hours would be applied across the State. Trading laws mean general retail shops in Perth can open from 11am to 5pm, but non-metropolitan general retail shops — ordinarily forced to close on public holidays — need to apply for a variation through Consumer Protection in order to continue trading on September 22. Bunbuy Geographe Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief Kristy Gillian said South West business had been reporting the significant costs the public holiday represents to their organisations in both wages and lost productivity. “Some businesses will have to close over the entire five-day period from Thursday through to Monday,” Ms Gilian said. “As Monday is also a public holiday in WA for the Queen’s Birthday, many businesses are going to have great difficulty getting staff to turn up for work on the Friday following the Queen’s Memorial Day public holiday.” Ms Gillian said some business owners feared some staff would not show up for work on Friday which could strip their staff levels to below operational levels and many were unable to safely open without a minimum number of staff. “While it’s a perfect tribute to the reign of such a dedicated monarch, the short lead-time has created an impact across the community with many businesses and organisations feeling the brunt,” she said. “In addition to an extra public holiday in January this year because New Year’s Day fell on a Saturday, businesses will now have to foot the bill for another public holiday on the 22 September with only eight business day’s notice.” The day of mourning gives WA employees 15 public holidays in 2022 compared to 13 in 2021. Ms Gillian encouraged businesses to engage with their staff openly to help limit any negative impacts, or hopefully find a way to make the one-off holiday work in their favour. “Even though this extra day’s holiday comes as a surprise, some businesses have reported the benefit of gaining some form of break or even the extra traffic through their doors on this holiday,” Ms Gillian said.