The federal government is intervening in a huge bid to change the working arrangements for hundreds of thousands of people. The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) raised eyebrows last month when it made an application to switch up the General Retail Industry Award 2020 (GRIA).

There are 17 amendments in the ARA's proposal to the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which touch on things like penalty rates, overtime, and shift times. But Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt will make his own application to the FWC to oppose the changes.

“Labor’s longstanding position is that workers’ wages should not go backwards," he will say in his submission, which will be lodged on Friday.

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“If you give up your nights and weekends to keep Australia fed and clothed, you deserve your penalty rates.

“We’re focused on helping Australians earn more, while the big supermarkets and retailers are trying to cut their penalty rates.”

He fears what the ARA is proposing will see certain safety nets that currently protect workers eliminated.

What are the controversial changes being proposed?

The ARA represents some of the biggest retail companies in the country, including Coles, Woolworths, Kmart, Bunnings, Costco, Mecca and 7-Eleven stores.

The General Retail Industry Award covers many of the workers in those companies, and the changes, if they're approved, would affect around 353,200 people.

Are you affected by these changes? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com

The Association thinks the current setup is unnecessarily convoluted as there are 994 individual pay rates that span nearly 100 pages.

“The ARA’s proposed variations to the GRIA seek to promote clearer guidelines around working conditions, empowering employees to understand their rights while also fostering greater transparency and flexibility in working arrangements,” it said in its submission.

The amendments would see workers earning $53,670 and above exempted from things like overtime rates, evening and weekend penalty rates, and annual leave loading.

It also wants to reduce rest times between shifts from 12 hours to 10 hours, and allow workers to waive their meal breaks to finish their shifts early.

In exchange for this, they would be given an opt-in 25 per cent boost to their base rate.

Government intervention into major work change

Senator Watt believes these changes won't be in the best interests of workers, even if their base pay goes up.