Changes to Modern Awards (Australia Wide)
Research from Vanessa Petch HR Maximised 0418 190 106
Award Changes | Fair Work Aust. has recently released the first of 3 tranches of changes to Modern Awards (Australia wide) as part of their 4-year review. All in all, 113 awards are being updated, with only 36 being released at this first stage.
Most of the changes being released are to the language and layout, intended to make the awards simpler and easier. There hasn’t been any significant change to any of the awards in terms of rules or entitlements. You can read the full list awards and associated changes here.
Salaried Staff Changes | If you have salary staff, then you need to be aware of changes effective 1st March 2020, key changes to several awards Clerks, Private Sector, Mfg and Assoc. Industries, Banking, Finance and Insurance, Professional Services and Health Professionals’ awards amongst others.
Very briefly, the main changes are that the employer must advise the employee in writing:
- how the salary has been calculated including any overtime and penalty assumptions used
- which provisions of the award the salary satisfies (penalties, loadings, allowances etc)
- what is the outer limit of hours an employee can work before penalty rates apply?
- demonstrate how the salary is better off than the award.
Also, every 12 months the employer must calculate how much the employee would’ve been paid under the award and if it was more than what has been paid to them under the salary arrangement, then the employer must pay this shortfall within 14 days. This means employers must start recording start, break and finish times for salaried staff and performing a yearly Better Off Overall Test (BOOT).
If you have salaried employees, now is the time to review your arrangements to ensure you are compliant. I’m Vanessa from HR Maximised, a HR professional we’ve developed a free HR Audit for businesses to complete online that will evaluate their compliance with the Fair Work Act and provides an overview of areas that require attention.
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