Annualised Salary Provisions – FWC Award Changes

The Fair Work Commission has determined to provide greater protections for award covered employees paid an annual salary. The FWC decision will require employers who enter into an annualised salary arrangement to specify in writing which award entitlements are included in the salary, the method used to calculate the salary identifying each separate component and […]

What will the 2019 FWC Increase Be?

The Fair Work Commission’s Annual Wage Review is shaping up to deliver another significant increase to minimum award wages. The constant discourse about wages of late has been the almost non-existence of wage rises. With bargaining largely in the doldrums and not delivering any significant increases where it is active, serious economic analysts are calling […]

New Rules for Flexible Work Requests

From December 1st this year, modern awards will include a new provision concerning employee rights to request family friendly working arrangements. The right already exists as part of the National Employment Standards (NES) but the Fair Work Commission has expanded on those provisions with this decision. Essentially, the new provision requires an employer to discuss […]

Safety Net Clause Ushers Agreement Through

Many agreements fail to pass the stringent approval processes required by the Fair Work Act  because a term falls foul of the National Employment Standards (NES). In most cases the totality of the agreement’s benefits far outweigh whatever NES issue is diminished. No great harm is likely. But the inflexibility of the legislation leaves the […]

FWC Unloads on Loaded Rates Agreement

A security company has been given short shrift by the Fair Work Commission with its attempt to gain approval of a streamlined agreement which wrapped up penalties and various allowances into a composite rate. Despite some pay rates being nearly 50% higher than their award counterparts, and the employer’s willingness to give comprehensive undertakings, the […]

Old Agreement Conditions Irrelevant

Inattention has caught out an employer who had assumed a key employment term had been ‘rolled over’ from an expired agreement into the new agreement. And despite evidence that the old agreement contained the missing terms, the Fair Work Commission was unmoved. The trouble started when the employer re-drafted the agreement from a PDF format […]

New Theory for Low Wage Rises?

The low wage rise low unemployment phenomenon has had experts head scratching, and the Reserve Bank of Australia has been at the forefront of trying to figure it out. Now the RBA’s  Deputy Governor has postulated another possibility – that low job mobility may be partly the reason. The theory goes that most people voluntarily […]

Why enterprise bargaining training matters

Enterprise bargaining, especially the first time around, can be an overwhelming experience. Even more so if it is initiated by a well-resourced union. There are so many angles to cover, interests to serve, rules and regulations to observe. So where to start? Your team needs to be prepared An informed, capable team will greatly enhance […]