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Minimum Wage Increase and Industry News

Payroll and leave entitlements compliance guide for employers

National Minimum Wage Increase
On Thursday 30 May 2019, the Commission handed down its 2019 Annual Wage Review Decision, which can be summarised as follows:

  • The National Minimum Wage and all Modern Award rates of pay are to be increased by 3%, effective from the first full pay period commencing on or after Monday 1 July 2019.
  • This wage increase can be absorbed into any existing over award payments (check the absorption clause in your Modern Awards – usually this is in clause 2.2 or there about).
  • Award free casual employees – the default casual loading will remain at 25%.

Labour Hire Licensing – QLD and VIC
Labour Hire Providers based in Queensland were required to be registered from 16 April 2019 with the Queensland Government.

From 30 October 2019, all Labour Hire Providers based in Victoria will also need to be registered with the Labour Hire Authority.

Ombudsman Blitz recovers $580,000 in unpaid wages
A recent audit of businesses in regional Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria found “unacceptable” levels of compliance with workplace laws.

The Ombudsman last week released details of a regional audit campaign which saw it visit more than 1,380 businesses across the country, finding more than one in five (22%) failed to pay their employees correctly.  The findings are the latest indication a sizeable proportion of business owners are either skirting their obligations as employers or are unaware of their responsibilities.

The most common breaches were underpayment of minimum hourly rates (41%), failure to provide proper payslips (30%), failure to pay penalty rates correctly (10%), failure to pay correct overtime (7%) and issues with record keeping (6%).  Among businesses found to be breaking the law, 48% were unaware of their workplace law obligations, while 20% said they misinterpreted award requirements.

“It is unacceptable that almost half of the businesses we visited were simply unaware of their obligations under workplace laws and were not paying the lawful minimum hourly wage”, said Ombudsman Sandra Parker.

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