Cafe owner hits back at Aussie's wild public holiday surcharge threat: 'Scum of the earth'
An Australian cafe owner has hit back against customers who criticised her for having a public holiday surcharge over Easter. Hospitality venues across the country have been slugging Aussies 5 to 20 per cent extra during this extended weekend, and it hasn't gone down well with some people.
A poll of more than 4,000 Yahoo Finance readers found 38 per cent didn't think public holiday surcharges were acceptable. Ruby Rule runs three cafes in Brisbane and she said one customer called her the "scum of the earth" for having a surcharge, while another wanted to take out their frustration on her.
"Someone left a charming comment, saying that they would throw their coffee at me if I tried to sting them with a 15 per cent surcharge," she said.
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"If you're pressed about paying 60 to 80 cents more on your coffee, then go ahead and throw it at me and make it a double shot."
She said on Good Friday, one of her cafes was incredibly busy, another just about broke even, and her third lost money.
Rule said she usually worked up to 13 hours during weekends like this, but she doesn't get penalty rates and pays herself what she can.She added that charging a public holiday surcharge wasn't designed to be a money-grabbing scheme, but it goes a small way in keeping the lights on.
"I'm still making less than a normal weekday," she said.
"Imagine running a team covering wages, working the floor yourself, and then going home with less money than you started with, because that's what I'm dealing with."
When she was open on Queensland's October public holiday last year, she brought in $4,705 across her three cafes, $719 of which came from the 15 per cent surcharge.
The staff wages for that Monday public holiday alone were $3,500.
On a normal day, wages for nine staff working 55 hours across three shops would be $1,800.
'This is to show that business owners do not add the surcharge so they can make more money. It's purely to try and offset some of that cost," she said.
Dan Dick runs into similar problems for his Melbourne cafes during public holidays.
"The award dictates that on public holidays, staff are entitled to double time," he told Yahoo Finance.
"Essentially, the casual award goes from $30s to $60s an hour and any full-timer gets a day in lieu. So it's not feasible for businesses to absorb that."
While she could have just closed her worst-performing cafe on a public holiday, Rule said it was important to show up for her customers every day.
Dick added that closing during these big calendar events can have a huge impact on everyone.
"What are you going to do on a day off when nothing's open because it's not profitable to run?" he asked.
"I think everyone's just got to understand that it's the necessary cost of being able to visit your favourite venues on days that they're essentially running at a loss."
Lightspeed managing director Nicole Buisson told Yahoo Finance surcharges typically ranged from around 10 to 15 per cent of the total bill.
However, there was no 'one-size-fits-all' approach, with some venues charging diners as much as 20 per cent.
There's no limit on the amount a business can charge for a public holiday surcharge, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission only requiring businesses to clearly display the surcharge on their menu.
Lightspeed's data found public holiday surcharges were most commonly charged in bars and pubs (39 per cent) and restaurants (37 per cent), followed closely by cafes (36 per cent) and bakeries (24 per cent).
But one Aussie highlighted an interesting aspect of the surcharges that apply during Easter.
While it's understandable to have surcharges on Good Friday as well as Easter Sunday and Monday, Phoebe Parsons was confused about paying extra on Easter Saturday.
The ACT, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria recognise Easter Saturday as a public holiday, so some venues charged a public holiday surcharge on this day as well.
But Parsons said it was "confusing" that cafe, restaurant and pub customers were charged extra on Easter Saturday, considering workers don't actually get a day off like they would if Christmas fell on a weekend.Sign in to access your portfolio
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