At the time of writing this article, the Fair Work Commission has recently handed down its decision following the Annual Minimum Wage Review process. The process involves the Commission reviewing submissions from various interested parties, including employer and employee representative groups, as well as analysing data relating to wages, such as changes to cost of living and alike.
What is The Annual Minimum Wage Review
Essentially, they are looking to ensure that the minimum wages set out in the Fair Work Act, including the National Minimum Wage, as well as al Award minimum rates of pay, is set at an appropriate level for our current economic conditions.
What Else is Changing
In addition to the National Minimum Wage and Award Rate changes, we are in the midst of a raft of changes to Industrial Relations legislation, which applies to not only wages, but various other aspects of the employment relationship.
Keeping up with compliance obligations is one of the key pain points employers face, especially in this current environment with so many changes, many of them complex to navigate.
In this article we’ll give you the current update, with the caveat that more changes are tabled, and this information is only up to date at the time of writing (June 2024).
Your 1 July Compliance Essentials
To ensure you’re compliant from 1 July 2024, here are some key things you need to be aware of:
Additional Checks
These are not insignificant increases and changes, so employers should also ensure they are reviewing Individual Flexibility Agreements and Annualised Wage Agreements which are already in place to ensure they are still meeting the better off overall test.
Typically, employers will have these in place if they pay their employees a higher hourly rate or annual salary, which includes their base rate of pay as well as allowances, penalties, loadings and alike. Failure to review these agreements annually can easily see an employer slip into an underpayment scenario, placing you at risk of back payment claims being made. So as your relevant Award increases, it’s the time to assess your flexibility agreements to ensure you remain compliant.
Upcoming Changes
These are not the only compliance changes employers need to be aware of. With the Closing the Loopholes Act provisions starting to role out, August 2024 will mark a significant number of additional compliance obligations including:
What Employers Should Do:
Ensure you are across your specific compliance obligations by understanding the Fair Work Act and associated legislation as it applies to your business and your employees, or get support from a professional to assist you with this.
An invitation:
Another way you can stay up to date with the latest compliance updates is to join us inside our free Facebook Group. Each week I am proving free training and updates in the group, so you’ll be alerted any time there is something new. Plus, it’s a great place to connect with other business owners, leaders and managers in a group focused on all things HR, people and team management we’d love for you to join us. https://www.facebook.com/groups/hrsupportaustralia
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