Unions have lined up against a bill being introduced by independent senator Nick Xenophon which would seek cuts to weekend penalty rates paid by small businesses.
Under the bill, penalty rates would only apply where an employee has worked more than 38 hours in a seven day period or more than 10 hours in a day.
The exemption would apply to businesses with fewer than 20 workers.
The South Australian secretary of the Shop Assistants Union, Peter Malinauskas told the ABC the bill would create a divide in the jobs market.
“We’re really concerned with the Nick Xenophon bill because what it does is it creates two classes of worker,” Mr Malinauskas said, “those people who get acknowledged for their work on a weekend and those that don’t. We think it’s a very dangerous precedent to set.”