4 minutes ago, Demon_spurs said:

I'm for being all encompassing, happy to have a holiday for Passover, Ramadan, Greek Easter, and every independence day around the world, how can we call ourselves truly cosmopolitan if we don't embrace them all, in fact Sweden's national day is my birthday, and I take that off every year.

My dad's birthday is on St Patrick's Day and his two brothers have theirs on St David's and St Andrew's Day. My brother beats them all though. He was born on 24 May 1972. The day Glasgow Rangers won the European Cup Winners Cup at the Nou Camp in Barcelona against Dynamo Moscow, 3-2. ❤️

Just now, Rab D Nesbitt said:

My dad's birthday is on St Patrick's Day and his two brothers have theirs on St David's and St Andrew's Day. My brother beats them all though. He was born on 24 May 1972. The day Glasgow Rangers won the European Cup Winners Cup at the Nou Camp in Barcelona against Dynamo Moscow, 3-2. ❤️

I'm happy to celebrate your family's birthdays as well with a holiday. Hmm might have trouble getting all these past the boss

2 hours ago, Moonshadow said:

Or holiday/s for religions that have fewer believers than ever

I hope you aren't lumping "Festivus for the rest of us" into that mix Moon.  There's still a few faithful followers!

Increased public holidays are often the sign of a declining economy desperate to get consumers to spend. Japan is a classic example.

This holiday has never really made any sense from a "date marking" viewpoint and this year makes even less sense as there is no GF in Melbourne, it's six weeks late and Melbourne is most likely locked down in a manner that prohibits travel outside the metro area.

In the scheme of 2020 though I'm beyond caring

Concept in itself is stupid , this year even worse , and food places doing tough as it  is wont be open for takeaway to pay public holiday rates

Friday 23 October 2020 Public Holidays-

Hungary - Republic Day

Libya - Liberation Day

British Virgin Islands - St. Ursula's Day

North Macedonia - Day of the Macedonian Revolution

Thailand - Chulalongkorn Day

Victoria - Thank You Day

How about Observation Days 23 Oct.

USA - National Boston Cream Pie Day

USA - National Mole Day

USA - National TV Talk Show Host Day

USA - IPOD Day                                                      Something there for everyone???

37 minutes ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

My dad's birthday is on St Patrick's Day and his two brothers have theirs on St David's and St Andrew's Day. My brother beats them all though. He was born on 24 May 1972. The day Glasgow Rangers won the European Cup Winners Cup at the Nou Camp in Barcelona against Dynamo Moscow, 3-2. ❤️

Do you have any relatives with a birthday on 24 October by any chance?

A lot of people doing it tough and I note the comments here about small businesses in particular.

I know plenty who've been stuck inside and its starting to really grate. Mental health is a big issue that doesn’t get mentioned often enough. Hopefully by GF weekend restrictions will be relaxed a little so families can visit each other again, friends can have 1 or 2 visitors over. I’m all for it for those reasons.

23 minutes ago, Better days ahead said:

Do you have any relatives with a birthday on 24 October by any chance?

Grand Final day ? No. The closest I think is mine on the 18th. 

1 minute ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

Grand Final day ? No. The closest I think is mine on the 18th. 

Pity. It would have been a great omen!

5 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Does anyone else think that this year’s Grand Final Eve Public Holiday is ridiculous?

There’s no room for the usual grand final parade or festivities with the game being played in the Republic of Queensland.

And besides that, Melbourne in the midst of its Covid-19 lockdown won’t be a place for celebration, especially if the 5k limit is still in place.

With 3 kids in daycare, kinder and primary school I'd rather not have a public holiday and instead have the kids at daycare, kinder and school after the [censored] storm that has been home learning. On the flipside I can see the public holiday as providing some relief for people, provided stage 4 is lifted before then. To me it makes more sense to have a public holiday to celebrate coming out of lockdown.

1 hour ago, markc said:

absolute joke, another kick in the teeth for any small business that has managed to survive 

I used to close Grand final day so any staff that followed football could watch the game, since this holiday I haven't. Over half my staff don't even follow AFL, nor care about it. Mind you now that has all changed with Covid and business, I only have one staff member left and she couldn't give 2 hoots about AFL. 

 

 

Assuming 50% uplift for penalty rates (its probably less than that) and assuming equal staffing across 6 days per week for 50 weeks of the year operation, the cost of a single public holiday is 0.167% of your annual wage bill.

 

For a Cafe, wages should be about 30% of your sales (assuming 30% wages, 30% COGS, 30% overheads, 10% profit).

That means the cost of a public holiday is equivalent to about 0.05% of your annual turnover. 10 public holidays would be 0.5% of your annual turnover. 

 

If the cost of an additional public holiday is effecting the viability of a business, then either the business is already struggling, or the way it is analysing costs/profit is wrong (too narrow ignoring overheads, focusing only on one day, etc.).

 

Actually, I've come to the conclusion that GF eve public holiday is probably equal to, if not more relevant to most Melbournians than Melb Cup, Queens b'day, Christmas day or easter. That is, in terms of the number of people interested in the named reason the holiday was created in the first place

So, bring it on!

11 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Does anyone else think that this year’s Grand Final Eve Public Holiday is ridiculous?

There’s no room for the usual grand final parade or festivities with the game being played in the Republic of Queensland.

And besides that, Melbourne in the midst of its Covid-19 lockdown won’t be a place for celebration, especially if the 5k limit is still in place.

I know there are plenty not working at the moment, but personally I have been smashed since lockdown began as have my team and everyone I work with. No one has been able to take leave since the start of the year (and will be unlikely to take any leave until Christmas) so we are all looking forward to the public holiday for a well earned long weekend.

11 hours ago, pewpewpew said:

Agreed. They should just give us an extra public holiday next year in the long period between Anzac Day & Queen’s Birthday or QB & Grand Final Eve. 

There's no public holiday for ANZAC Day next year as it falls on a Sunday

7 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Increased public holidays are often the sign of a declining economy desperate to get consumers to spend. Japan is a classic example.

This holiday has never really made any sense from a "date marking" viewpoint and this year makes even less sense as there is no GF in Melbourne, it's six weeks late and Melbourne is most likely locked down in a manner that prohibits travel outside the metro area.

In the scheme of 2020 though I'm beyond caring

What are you talking about? It's just giving us back the holiday Kennett took off us when he got rid of Show Day. It usually falls in the middle of the school holidays which is good for families too who often have to manage 4 weeks leave a year with 12 weeks of school holidays.

On 9/13/2020 at 8:13 AM, Whispering_Jack said:

Does anyone else think that this year’s Grand Final Eve Public Holiday is ridiculous?

There’s no room for the usual grand final parade or festivities with the game being played in the Republic of Queensland.

And besides that, Melbourne in the midst of its Covid-19 lockdown won’t be a place for celebration, especially if the 5k limit is still in place.

Any day my boss is going to pay me for not working is never ridiculous.

Never had a public holiday. If I got them I certainly wouldn’t question or be against them. 

Edited September 14, 20204 yr by Ethan Tremblay

On 9/13/2020 at 10:33 AM, JTR said:

This. I can't wait for a long weekend.

Though I do see the point of those who have been unable to work during this time and just want to get back into it.

 

23 hours ago, Accepting Mediocrity said:

Public holidays are locked in well in advance. I'm not sure if it would be possible to change it, even if there was a political will to do so. Doesn't seem to be how bureaucracy works!

Also, it's not as though it will be costing many businesses extra $ because most aren't open anyway. Taking a guilt-free day to read a book, go for a walk, do a project in the shed/etc can't be a bad thing!

I think the point is, that there are businesses particularly in regional Victoria who would be dying for some foot traffic. To have a long weekend when we can't leave the house is pointless and does nothing to stimulate our dying economy.

I would rather have a long weekend when I can go away and support a business that desperately needs it, or have a long weekend when we can meet family and friends or go out to dinner. 

Yes working and teaching from home is a nightmare and we all need a break. But will it really feel like a break when it's just an extended period of sitting at home? With your annoying kids? Unable to drink socially? Waiting for a game of football that isn't even happening in our state? 

Those Queenslanders are appropriating everything -

Qld public holiday for AFL grand final to be floated with Premier

1 minute ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Those Queenslanders are appropriating everything -

Qld public holiday for AFL grand final to be floated with Premier

She should chat to Tom Hanks about it, see what he thinks. Seems to have a lot of pull over in QLD he does.

Apparently if you bring money into the state you are exempt from border rules. But if you're dying or someone you know is dying, please take a ticket at the deli counter and wait for us to get back to you with a request for your bank records. 

 

22 hours ago, deanox said:

Assuming 50% uplift for penalty rates (its probably less than that) and assuming equal staffing across 6 days per week for 50 weeks of the year operation, the cost of a single public holiday is 0.167% of your annual wage bill.

 

For a Cafe, wages should be about 30% of your sales (assuming 30% wages, 30% COGS, 30% overheads, 10% profit).

That means the cost of a public holiday is equivalent to about 0.05% of your annual turnover. 10 public holidays would be 0.5% of your annual turnover. 

 

If the cost of an additional public holiday is effecting the viability of a business, then either the business is already struggling, or the way it is analysing costs/profit is wrong (too narrow ignoring overheads, focusing only on one day, etc.).

 

 I think you might also need to separate out fixed and variable costs.  Or, to put it another way, every business is different and a single formula probably doesn't work for every business.

Also, I've always thought the GF Public Holiday was a stupid idea as it seems to kill momentum for the big day rather than enhance it. I'd abolish it, but if it has to remain, in future years make it the Monday after the GF, not the Friday beforehand.

 

1 hour ago, Jaded said:

 

I think the point is, that there are businesses particularly in regional Victoria who would be dying for some foot traffic. To have a long weekend when we can't leave the house is pointless and does nothing to stimulate our dying economy.

I would rather have a long weekend when I can go away and support a business that desperately needs it, or have a long weekend when we can meet family and friends or go out to dinner. 

Yes working and teaching from home is a nightmare and we all need a break. But will it really feel like a break when it's just an extended period of sitting at home? With your annoying kids? Unable to drink socially? Waiting for a game of football that isn't even happening in our state? 

Any day not working is a break even if you are stuck at home. It's a mental break more than anything.

On 9/13/2020 at 8:13 AM, Whispering_Jack said:

Does anyone else think that this year’s Grand Final Eve Public Holiday is ridiculous?

There’s no room for the usual grand final parade or festivities with the game being played in the Republic of Queensland.

And besides that, Melbourne in the midst of its Covid-19 lockdown won’t be a place for celebration, especially if the 5k limit is still in place.

Whispering, that opinion piece has the whiff of tabloid outrage designed to stir controversy.

I'm sure you would be as well informed as I am that:

1. The public holiday is being retained this year as Thank You day for the restrictions Victorians and particularly Melbournians  have stoically, (on the whole), endured. As others have already stated you may as well rail against nearly all the other public holidays.

2. By October the 23rd, (5 weeks away), there will certainly be far fewer restrictions, and that will include the 5km limit. 

 

 

34 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

 I think you might also need to separate out fixed and variable costs.  Or, to put it another way, every business is different and a single formula probably doesn't work for every business.

Also, I've always thought the GF Public Holiday was a stupid idea as it seems to kill momentum for the big day rather than enhance it. I'd abolish it, but if it has to remain, in future years make it the Monday after the GF, not the Friday beforehand.

 

This was meant to be illustrative only, and I've plucked approx target figures from a cafe to use.  But it serves the purpose to show that the wage cost of an extra PH is minuscule in the context of actually running a business. If the owner is concerned that the daily trade provide a gross profit (say sales minus COGS minus wages) due to decreased revenue then close, and save the penalty rates and COGS.

But regardless, this should all be factored into your business plan. And if your margins are so tight that you can't afford to increase costs by 0.05% then you've got bigger problems than the public holiday. That's $500 for a business with costs of $1,000,000.

FWIW I agree it should be the Monday instead.