Information About Modern Awards
Modern awards commence from 1 January 2010 and cover most businesses in the national workplace relations system.
What is the role of modern awards in the national workplace relations system?
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Modern awards together with the National Employment Standards (NES) and the national minimum wage orders made by Fair Work Australia, make up a new safety net for employees covered by the national workplace relations system.
Employers and employees need to know:
- modern awards replace existing:
- federal (pre-reform) awards (except those applying to a single enterprise)
- notional agreements preserving state awards (NAPSAs)
- state reference transitional awards
- modern award wages start on 1 January 2010 (where the modern award contains no transitional provisions)
- transitional provisions in most awards mean that rates of pay and other conditions do not come into force until 1 July 2010 and may be phased in over 5 annual instalments.
Who’s covered by a modern award?
Modern awards cover employers and employees in the national workplace relations system. Most employers and employees previously operating under an award or a pay scale are covered by a modern award.
Modern awards are industry or occupation-based, and apply to all employers and employees who perform work covered by a particular modern award.
However, employees who are paid a guaranteed amount of $108,300 a year (indexed annually) are not covered by a modern award. Many managers and higher income employees may not be covered by a modern award - even if there is a relevant modern award for their industry.
What’s in a modern award?
From 1 January 2010, modern awards operate with the National Employment Standards (NES) and regulate minimum terms for a specific industry or occupation.
Modern awards can contain terms relating to:
- minimum wages, including piecework rates
- types of employment (eg. full-time, part-time, casual)
- overtime and penalty rates
- work arrangements (eg. rosters, variations to working hours)
- annualised wage or salary arrangements
- allowances (eg. travel allowances)
- leave, leave loading and taking leave
- superannuation
- procedures for consultation, representation and dispute settlement
- employing outworkers and the work they perform
- an industry-specific redundancy scheme.
In addition, they must also have a flexibility term, which means employers and employees are able to negotiate changes to meet their individual needs relating to issues specified in the clause.
Under the NES eligible employees have a right to request flexible working arrangements for employees to assist them to care for their child.
What’s a flexible working arrangement?
From 1 January 2010, an employee who is a parent, or has responsibility for the care of a child, may request a change in their working arrangements.
Examples of changes in working arrangements may include:
- changes in hours of work (eg. reduction in hours worked, changes to start / finish times),
- changes in patterns of work (eg. working ‘split-shifts’ or job sharing arrangements)
- changes in location of work (eg. working from home or another location).
Who’s eligible?
An employee who is a parent, or has responsibility for the care of a child, may request a change in their working arrangements.
In order to be eligible to make this request an employee:
- must have completed at least 12 months continuous service with their employer immediately before making the request or:
- be a casual employee that:
- has been employed by the employer on a regular and systematic basis for a sequence of periods of employment of at least 12 months, immediately before making the request, and
- has a reasonable expectation of continuing employment by the employer on a regular and systematic basis, and
- must have care of a child who is either:
- under school age (ie. the age at which the child is required by the applicable State or Territory law to start attending school)
- under 18 and has a disability.
What am I required to do under modern awards?
Employers and employees should be aware of the modern award that may apply to the work they do, and how this affects their pay rates.
They should also be aware of any terms and conditions of employment that have changed, and if there are any transitional arrangements which may affect these changes.
This information comes courtesy of Fair Work Online which is the government resource for the Fair Work Australia Policy.