The move will see Sunday loading for retail, fast food and hospitality workers brought in line with Saturday loading.

Full and part-time hospitality workers will have their Sunday rates cut from 175 per cent to 150 per cent of their normal weekly wage.

Fast food workers will have their 150 per cent Sunday loading cut to 125 per cent.

Ararat’s The Vines Cafe and Bar stopped opening on Sunday last July.

Owner Donna McKenzie said the closure had been the direct result of penalty rates.

“Working Sundays was completely flat out and we were working really hard,” she said.

“But at the end of the day we were just breaking even. We used to close Wednesdays, so we decided to open then instead.

“I have less staff, less overheads and it works out to be the same profit.”

She said she would now consider reopening on Sunday, but understood the reduced rate might deter staff from taking shifts.

“When you are the worker on Sunday, it is not always a great shift to work,” she said.

“It can be hard to get staff who want to work on Sunday unless they do get the penalty rate.

“So when it comes to dropping it back, you wonder if staff will think it is worth working that day.”

Ararat Subway franchisee Linda Hosking said the changes could help save jobs.

“Public holidays are very difficult to make money when you have such higher rates,” she said.