The Fair Work Commission has announced a 2.5 percent increase in the minimum wage and related award minimum wages. Effective from the first full pay period after 1 July 2021
The National Minimum Wage will be $772.60 per week or $20.33 per hour. The hourly rate has been calculated by dividing the weekly rate by 38, on the basis of the 38-hour week for a full-time employee.
This constitutes an increase of $18.80 per week to the weekly rate or 49 cents per hour to the hourly rate.
- All Modern Awards except those in group 2 and 3 below – 1 July 2021
- General Retail Industry Award 2020 – 1 September 2021
- Air Pilots Award 2020
Aircraft Cabin Crew Award 2020
Airline Operations – Ground Staff Award 2020
Airport Employees Award 2020
Air services Australia Enterprise Award 2016
Alpine Resorts Award 2020
Amusement, Events and Recreation Award 2020
Dry Cleaning and Laundry Industry Award 2020
Fitness Industry Award 2020
Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2010
Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020
Live Performance Award 2020
Mannequins and Models Award 2020
Marine Tourism and Charter Vessels Award 2020
Nursery Award 2020
Racing Clubs Events Award 2020
Racing Industry Ground Maintenance Award 2020
Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020
Restaurant Industry Award 2020
Sporting Organisations Award 2020
Travelling Shows Award 2020
Wine Industry Award 2020.
1 November 2021
Next steps
Following this wage increase, employers will be required to:
- Review the wages of their employees;
- Ensure that processes are in place to implement the required changes;
- Consult with employees to ensure that they are aware of changes that apply to them.
The increase doesn’t affect employees who already get paid above Award pay rates, but it’s a good time to check that you are still paying above Award rates by conducting a payroll audit.
If you currently pay above National Minimum Wage or Modern Award rates of pay you’re not obliged by this decision to increase their rates of pay, but you need to make sure that their rates remain equal to or higher than the applicable Award rates of pay once the increase is applied.
If you have any Individual Flexibility Agreements, you will need to reassess those agreements to ensure employees remain “better off overall” when compared to the newly increased Modern Award rates.
If you pay any of your employees an annual salary, you will need to conduct an audit of those annualised salaries against the new Award rates and working patterns to ensure the annual salary compensates for award entitlements.
The team at Fresh HR Insights Pty Ltd is available for any queries and will be in touch in due course for all our current active clients that are paying annualized salaries about getting this re-checked.