- Did you know that a business and an employee may agree to vary application of certain terms of the Modern Award?
- Are you trying to identify which Modern Awards apply to your business?
- Are you aware that each Modern Award provides for payment of annual leave loading?
- Know the impact of the recent National Employment Standards?
- Need professional assistance with updating employee agreements?
For the first time in Australia a consistent set of National Employment Standards take effect from 1 January 2010. These standards apply to all employees* regardless of pay level. Also effective on 1 January are 122 Modern Awards which have been consolidated from a large number of state based Awards. These changes impact all employers.
Employers have enjoyed a period of 6 months in which to understand these new laws. From 1 July employers are expected to be fully compliant. Avoid unnecessary penalties when the audits from Fair Work Australia commence, Speak with one of the team at Your HRmanager for guidance on what action needs to be taken.
*All states and territories except WA have referred their industrial relations powers to the federal jurisdiction. This applies to constitutional corporations, partnerships, sole traders and charities. Some transitional rules do apply.
Case Study
Situation
Sales representatives employed by an SME often worked a number of additional hours in the evenings and sometimes on a weekend, to attend trade shows.
Issue
The sales representatives were well paid relative to the market. Was overtime required to be paid in addition to their salary?
Action
Your HRmanager was able to explain to the SME Managing Director the effect of new workplace laws and explain the flexibility available and impact of the relevant modern award.
Outcome
Preparing an Individual Flexibility Agreement allowed agreement with individual employees to vary the application of several terms in the Modern Award. There was no hesitation in individual sales representatives participating to the Individual Flexibility Agreement as it could be clearly demonstrated that a sales representative was "better off over all" under the salary package from the SME.
Results
Greater flexibility for the business in coverage of hours with no additional costs, such as overtime.
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