The 5 solutions

Fair pay

Luxury hotels are busier than ever, room prices are at record highs and hotel workers are working harder than ever, so why is the pay so low? The accommodation industry has more low paid workers than any other industry in Australia!

Hotel workers deserve better pay for the work they do and need to earn a decent wage to support themselves and their families.

Training and career paths

Training needs to be recognised throughout the industry, it needs to be delivered through a simplified system.

This means a system that delivers accredited training in small blocks to workers at the workplace. Each time a worker completes a block of training they develop a new skill that is recognised.

Skills learnt in one hotel need to be recognised by other hotels. Better skill development and better career opportunities will give workers a real future in the industry.

Quality jobs

Quality jobs mean...

Health and safety: currently 1 in 10 workers are hurt at work each year. The industry has one of the highest injury rates in Australia, just below construction workers! It also has the highest injury rate for women. A priority must be to prevent injury through safer work practices.

Job design: hotel jobs need to be designed to maximise safety, efficiency and worker engagement. This includes ensuring reasonable workloads, proper rostering and professional equipment.

Quality middle management: middle management needs to be able to develop employees’ capabilities, to listen to workers and show them the respect they deserve. The current turnover of workers and managers is higher than any other industry in Australia. Too many managers are inexperienced and this has a negative impact on workers. Solutions are needed now.

Reduced casualisation: many hotel workers are employed as casuals with no certainty of hours or pay from week to week. It’s hard to plan their lives or know for sure if they can pay bills. This is very stressful and makes people vulnerable. Hotels need a solid stable workforce, they need permanent employees.

A strong and effective voice

Too often hotel workers aren’t listened to when they talk to management.

Often nothing gets done about problems raised with management. When nothing changes, problems stop getting raised and workers simply leave.

For things to change we need to stand together to make a difference. By joining the better jobs, better hotels campaign workers are showing hotels that they have the determination and strength to raise and resolve issues in the workplace.

Positive promotion of the industry

A strong, vibrant hotel industry is good for everybody. We should all be working together to make sure our industry is better.

Through the better jobs, better hotels campaign workers will show leadership in creating industry solutions to national problems.