Do you pay your staff a salary? Then you can’t afford to miss this article…
Over the years it has become common practice for employers to pay their staff an ‘annual salary’ which is intended to compensate them for hours worked, overtime, penalty rates, base wages and so forth – however as of the 1st of March this year, the Fair Work Commission is introducing a number of notification, recordkeeping and wage reconciliation obligations on employers who pay annualised salaries to their award-covered employees.
What are the key changes?
As of the 1st of March 2020, employers with staff who are covered by the below modern awards will have new reporting and compliance obligations. These obligations include:
- Advising employees in writing of the terms of their arrangement and what award entitlements it will cover, and for some awards, getting an employee’s agreement to do this.
- Specifying an outer limit for the ordinary and overtime hours that the annualised wage is designed to pay for.
- Providing a guarantee that for any additional hours worked beyond those limits within each pay cycle additional payments will be made to meet award minimum remuneration.
- Keeping records of the start and finish times of each shift an employee works, plus the duration of all unpaid breaks and have them signed by their employees each pay period or roster cycle.
- On the anniversary of each such arrangement compare the salary earned in that year with the minimum award payment for working the same hours and backpay any shortfall within 14 days.
Which awards are affected?
Banking, Finance and Insurance Award 2010
Clerks – Private Sector Award 2010
Contract Call Centres Award 2010
Hydrocarbons Industry (Upstream) Award 2010
Legal Services Award 2010
Mining Industry Award 2010
Oil Refining and Manufacturing Award 2010 (clerical employees only)
Salt Industry Award 2010
Telecommunications Services Award 2010
Water Industry Award 2010
Wool Storage, Sampling and Testing Award 2010
Broadcasting and Recorded Entertainment Award 2010
Local Government Industry Award 2010
Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2010
Oil Refining and Manufacturing Award 2010 (non-clerical employees)
Pharmacy Industry Award 2010
Rail Industry Award 2010
Horticulture Award
Pastoral Award 2010
Health Professionals Award 2010
Marine Towage Award 2010
Restaurant Industry Award 2010
Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010
How do I find out more?
For a limited time, HR On-Demand is pleased to offer all readers access to the replay of our webinar on the topic of Annualised Salary Changes. To watch the replay of the webinar, please CLICK HERE.
For more information about the changes being introduced in March 2020, or if this article has raised questions about the level of compliance in your business, please call HR On-Demand on 1300 55 99 62 or by email at hrondemand@talentcodehr.com.au for a free discussion.
