The Annual Wage Review – What you need to do and when
The Fair Work Commission wage panel has announced a 2.5% increase to the national minimum wage starting 1 July 2021.
The decision was based on a premise that the economy has ‘exceeded expectations’ and that a recovery was well underway, there are no expectations of extended border restrictions and international travel is expected to remain low, therefore tourism and airlines related awards won’t see an increase until November 2021.
The minimum wage will go up from $19.84 to $20.33 or $772.60 per week and applies to all employees covered by an award in 3 stages.
Stage 1 – 1 July 2021 will cover most awards except for those below.
Stage 2 – 1 September 2021 Retail award will increase
Stage 3 – 1 November 2021 the awards listed below, which were deemed to be the industries most affected by COVID-19 pandemic.
- Pilots Award
- Cabin Crew Award
- Airline Ground Staff Award
- Airport Award
- Alpine Resorts Award
- Amusement Award
- Dry Cleaning and Laundry Award
- Fitness Award
- Hair and Beauty Award
- Hospitality Award
- Live Performance Award
- Models Award
- Marine Tourism and Charter Vessels Award
- Nursery Award
- Racing Clubs Events Award
- Racing Ground Maintenance Award
- Registered Clubs Award
- Restaurant Award
- Sporting Organisations Award
- Travelling Shows Award
- Wine Award
The Fair Work Commission will issue determinations and orders about the changes in the coming days. Each Award will be updated shortly and tools and resourced will soon be available in the Fair Work website.
If you are an employer, review your awards and make sure your employee details are up to date. Talk to your software provider and make sure they will apply the changes in the indicated dates. Stay up to date with any new information by subscribing to the Fair Work website updates.
If you have any questions or are unsure about how to stay compliant don’t hesitate to contact us.