From 1 May 2021, Junior rates for classifications level 4 to level 8 under the General Retail Industry Award 2020 will no longer apply, although junior rates continue to apply to junior employees classified in levels 1 to 3. Junior employees under the Award classified as level 4 and above under the award must now be paid at least the adult rate of pay for their relevant classification.
Back in February 2020, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) decided to insert detailed annualised wage arrangement provisions into 16 modern Awards (e.g. Banking Finance, Clerks, Pharmacy etc).
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) Full Bench has decided to remove the higher-level junior rates of pay under the General Retail Industry Award 2020 (GRIA). This will mean that the adult rate will apply to all juniors at levels 4 to 8 inclusive.
On 10 September, the Queensland parliament passed new wage underpayment legislation.
The Annual Wage Review 2019-20 listed 3 operative dates in which the 1.75% wage increase would take effect, with the operative dates categorised by industries who were least affected to most affected by the pandemic.
ER Strategies CEO Steve Champion recently recorded a 25 minute video explaining the new JobMaker program, a central plank in the Federal Government’s attempts to revitalise the Australian economy after the COVID shutdown.
Parliament has now passed the legislation for the second phase of JobKeeper, or ‘JobKeeper 2.0’, which will now continue to provide financial support and workplace flexibilities to employers for the extended period ranging from 28 September 2020 to 28 March 2021. As part of this, the JobKeeper provisions in the Fair Work Act were extended, however, there have been some key changes to these flexibilities and employers should take note.
In our recent article, we explained how the coverage under the Miscellaneous Award has been expanded by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). This has meant that ER Strategies is fielding a lot of questions from clients about this change and how award coverage works.
From today (1 July 2020), following a decision by the Fair Work Commission earlier in the year, the coverage of the Miscellaneous Award 2020 has been significantly extended to now capture many employees who were previously assumed to be award-free.
Separate to the Annual Wage Review, ER Strategies clients covered by the General Retail Industry Award and the Pharmacy Industry Award 2010 will need to make necessary payroll changes to prepare for the changes in Sunday penalty rates under each of the awards, effective on or from 1 July 2020.
Get the latest HR/ER/IR Updates and news that could affect your business straight into your inbox.
