With a paramedic for a father, Joseph Mitchell has learnt over the years that sometimes your job requires you to work hours you'd much rather spend with your family.
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What he can't understand, though, is why his time as a hospitality worker is worth less than his dad's.
Unions across the country have united to hit back at recommendations in the Productivity Commission's draft report, which propose to cut to penalty rates for cafe, entertainment and retail workers on Sundays – usually double the rate of their base pay – to the same level as Saturdays.
The recommendation safeguards penalty rates for essential workers, including paramedics and nurses.
The Australian Council of Unions launched a television campaign on Sunday to protect weekend penalty rates.
Joseph's father Steve said while a third of his wage stems from penalty rates, the cost is the unsociable hours he works.
"[You're] giving up the time that most people get to spend with their families," he said.
"You're not there to take your son to sport every weekend, you're not there every Christmas because you're rostered on. It's only fair to be adequately compensated. I don't see why my time on Sunday is more valuable than anyone else's."
Joseph said he decided to sacrifice his weekends in order to gain a higher rate of pay and prioritise his studies at the Australian National University during the week.
If the proposed changes come into effect, he fears he'll struggle to make ends meet.
"A decrease from the Sunday rate to the Saturday rate is a loss of 25 per cent on my hourly rates so I'd have to work more in order make up that shortfall," Joseph said.
"I'm not exactly saving very much money working in hospitality at the moment so I'd definitely have to work a lot more."
Steve said if businesses wanted to reap the rewards of lucrative weekend trade, they should be prepared to compensate their staff properly.
"To me, more and more businesses are opening on weekends [because] more people are around spending money on the weekend," he said.
"I can't see employers wanting to disenfranchise their staff. Even though people say we're in a 24/7 economy, most people still value Sundays and public holidays."
Joseph believes people working in the hospitality and retail sectors are often young and just getting a foot in the door, which makes them more vulnerable to the financial hardship the cut in penalty rates may bring.
He also believes children whose parents work in the sector will be the ones to suffer.
"If their penalty rates go down, so does the amount of time [many people] can spend with their kids and that's really troubling," Joseph said.
Transport Workers Union NSW secretary Michael Aird said the union was preparing a response to the Productivity Commission's review.
"There's no reason someone's weekend should be valued any less because of their vocation," he said.
"Like Joseph and Steve, if you don't get to spend that time with your family there should be a cost."
