No penalties, no work Heather Thomas says she would not work in hospitality if weekend penalties were taken away. Heather Thomas spends her weekdays at university and her weekends waiting on tables at an inner-city Sydney restaurant. But the 21-year-old says that, if a push by restaurants across Australia to end extra pay for working weekends and at night is successful, she will be among droves of workers to leave the industry. "If I wasn't being paid adequately for a weekend I definitely wouldn't go in," Ms Thomas said. Her evidence has helped form part of union United Voice's argument over penalty rates, which will be heard before the Fair Work Commission on Monday. The union is responding to a request to the commission by Restaurant and Catering, which represents owners and managers in the industry, to review the award covering restaurant staff. The association last week argued before the Industrial Relations Commission in Sydney that hospitality employees who now get extra penalty payments for working weekends and nights should lose them. Under its application, which the association has said is "unprecedented," only those who worked more than five days in a row would be eligible for the extra payments. The association argues that, "given the opportunity," workers will accept weekend work at ordinary rates, without extra payment - thereby helping small business operators to stay afloat. It also argues that, due to the dramatic change in working hours across society, Australia is now a "24/7" economy, and that many who work in the restaurant industry are not disadvantaged by working on weekends or at night. Ms Thomas disagreed, and said she could work only at weekends due to study commitments. "Because I work evenings, I don't get to see my family or a lot of my friends who work office jobs," the international studies student said.