EAST COAST WAGE RATE BULLETIN CLERKS PRIVATE SECTOR AWARD 2010 Wage rates applying from the first pay period on or after 1 July 2016 Issued: June, 2016 Wages are effective from the first full pay period commencing on or after 1 July, 2016 Modern Award Rates and the 2.4% increase to minimum wages On 31 May 2016, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) Expert Panel handed down its annual wage decision. This bulletin will take into consideration the following: 1. The 2.4% increase to Modern Awards and the Federal Minimum Wage. 2. The increase will apply on a proportionate basis to employees that are paid a percentage of adult rates (e.g. juniors). 3. The increase to expense related allowances by the relevant component of the CPI. Members can rest assured that the rates of pay in this Bulletin have been researched thoroughly and are accurate. Further information Refer to the Clerks Private Sector Award 2010 (MA000002) for full details. A copy is available on our website www.neca.asn.au. Refer to the National Employment Standards for full details. A copy is available on our website www.neca.asn.au. This wage rate bulletin contains a summary of the major provisions of the award as provided by the decisions of the Fair Work Commission. Whilst every care has been exercised in the preparation of the information contained herein, members should not rely upon the information and should seek recourse to the award. NECA hereby expressly excludes any liability to a user for damages incurred as a result of reliance upon the information contained herein. The employer must ensure that copies of the Award and the NES are available to all employees to whom they apply either on a notice board which is conveniently located at or near the workplace or through electronic means, whichever makes them more accessible.
Maximum Weekly Hours of Work: Flexible Working Arrangements: All Purpose Rate of Pay: Annual An employee cannot be required to work more than 38 hours per week plus reasonable additional hours, in the form of paid overtime. Employees have the right to request flexible working arrangements including seeking variations to hours of work, overtime, penalty and allowance rates and leave loading. Strict rules apply so advice should be sought from NECA prior to entering into any formal arrangement with an employee. The all purpose rate of pay is used for calculating payments for overtime, paid leave, annual leave loading, public holidays and termination payments. The gross all purpose rate of pay is readily identified in the applicable wage rate tables of this bulletin. Full time employees are entitled to 4 weeks annual leave with pay for every 12 months of service plus 17.5% leave loading (including apprentices). Employees who work as shift workers are entitled to 1 additional week of annual leave calculated on a pro-rata basis (i.e. based upon the amount of shift work they perform). A full time employee accrues annual leave at the rate of 2.923 hours per week for every week of continuous service. A part time employee s annual leave entitlement and payment is calculated on a pro-rata basis of 0.0769 per hour. Long Service Personal/Carer s Annual leave should be paid at the employee s gross all purpose rate of pay. Long Service Leave legislation and entitlements differ between states and industries. For more information regarding long service leave entitlements in accordance with your State/Territory legislation, please visit the below listed websites or contact your NECA branch. VIC: Long service leave Victoria - Business Victoria NSW: Long service leave NSW Industrial Relations ACT: ACT Long Service Leave Authority ACT Government QLD: Long service leave in QLD QLD Government TAS: WorkSafe Tasmania Long service leave Personal/carer s leave is a combination of paid sick leave for personal illness or injury and paid or unpaid carer s leave for the caring of an employee s immediate family member or member of the employee s household. An employee is entitled to a combined total of 10 days paid personal/carer s leave per annum. Employees are also entitled to an additional 2 days unpaid carer s leave on each occasion but only in circumstances where they have already used all of their paid carer s leave entitlement. 2
A full time employee accrues personal/carer s leave at the rate of 1.462 hours per week for each week of continuous service. A part time employee s personal/carer s leave entitlement and payment is calculated on a pro-rata basis of 0.0385 per hour. Personal/carer s leave should be paid at the employee s gross all purpose rate of pay. Compassionate Compassionate leave is paid leave taken for the purposes of spending time with an employee s immediate family member or member of the employee s household who has a life threatening illness or injury and/or after the death of such a person. Community Service An employee is entitled to 2 days paid compassionate leave for each occasion that arises. There may be more than one occasion during any twelve month period. This entitlement is additional to the 10 days paid personal/carer s leave entitlement. Community service is identified as either Jury Service or a Voluntary Emergency Management activity such as Fire Fighting (CFA) Civil Defence or Rescue (SES). An employee who engages in such activities is entitled to be absent from work from the time the activity commences until it ceases, however, the duration of the absence must be reasonable. An employee must provide to an employer notice of the intended absence as soon as practicable and must also provide evidence of the absence relating to the community service being undertaken. An employee is not entitled to wage payment during a period of community service leave, other than for Jury Service. Fair Work Information Statement: The Fair Work Information Statement provides employees with information on workplace matters including the National Employment Standards, modern awards, agreement making, freedom of association, the role of the Fair Work Commission and the Fair Work Ombudsman, termination of employment, individual flexibility arrangements and right of entry (including the protection of personal information by privacy laws). The Statement must be provided to any new employee of your business who commences employment on or after 1 January 2010. Nothing precludes you from distributing a copy of the statement to your existing workforce. A copy of the Statement can be downloaded from NECAs website at www.neca.asn.au. For more detailed information regarding the National Employment Standards and the Modern Award please refer to the NECA website at www.neca.asn.au or alternatively contact NECA. 3
Termination of Employment: If terminating an employee s employment, the notice periods required, or payments in lieu of are as follows: Employee s Period of Continuous Service Not more than 1 year More than 1 year but not more than 3 years More than 3 years but not more than 5 years More than 5 years If the employee is over 45 years of age and has at least two years continuous service Period of Notice 1 week 2 weeks 3 weeks 4 weeks 1 additional week Termination of employment, unless for negligence or serious misconduct, should also involve a process of counselling and warnings. The notice of termination to be provided by an employee is the same as that required of an employer, except there is no requirement for an employee to provide additional notice based on their age. If an employee fails to provide the required period of notice then an employer may withhold the payment of monies due for the period of notice that remains outstanding. Redundancy: The NES introduces a redundancy payment scale which is additional to the notice period scale above. Importantly, there is no redundancy entitlement available to an employee if the employer has less than 15 employees immediately before the termination. From 1 January 2010 the following scale applies: Employee s Period of Continuous Service At least 1 year but less than 2 years At least 2 years but less than 3 years At least 3 years but less than 4 years At least 4 years but less than 5 years At least 5 years but less than 6 years At least 6 years but less than 7 years At least 7 years but less than 8 years At least 8 years but less than 9 years At least 9 years but less than 10 years At least 10 years Redundancy Entitlement 4 weeks 6 weeks 7 weeks 8 weeks 10 weeks 11 weeks 13 weeks 14 weeks 16 weeks 12 weeks* *The reason for a reduction to 12 weeks after 10 years is because an employee receives the benefit of a long service leave payment. If continuous service which is less than a full year at any of the year levels referred to above, then a pro rata payment will apply. All outstanding entitlements (annual leave, payment in lieu of notice, redundancy pay etc.) are to be paid out on the day termination of employment takes effect. Superannuation: Employers must contribute 9.5% of an employee s ordinary time earnings (OTE) into a complying superannuation fund. The Australian Tax Office has advised NECA that allowances, other than expense allowances, payable for ordinary time, are to be included in such calculations. 4
Classification Structure: The Modern Award establishes a revised classification structure which first came into effect on 1 July 2010. Level 1 (equal to a Clerical Assistant Grade 1) Typically a new recruit who has limited, relevant experience Works under close direction usually on reception/switchboard Maintains basic records, filing, collating, photocopying Handles and distributes mail including messenger service Recording, batching, checking and batching of accounts, invoices, orders, store requisitions Operate general office equipment including keyboard and other allied equipment Level 2 (equal to a Clerical Officer Grade 2) Typically an employee who has had sufficient experience and/or training to carry out their duties under general direction In addition to level 1 responding to enquiries as appropriate and use of interpersonal skills Word processing skills and the ability to use a word processing software package to create, format, edit, correct, print and save text documents Stenographer employed to take shorthand and to transcribe by means of keyboard equipment Maintain records and journals relating to reconciliation of accounts, incoming/outgoing cheques, invoices, debit/credit items, payroll data and letters Arrange routine travel bookings and itineraries, make appointments Provide general advice and information on the organisation s products and services Level 3 (equal to a Clerical Officer Grade 3) Typically an employee who has achieved a standard to perform specialised or non-routine and so only requires general guidance or direction Is expected to be able to train level 1 or 2 employees Prepare cash payment summaries, banking report and bank statements, calculate and maintain wage and salary records, follow credit referral procedures, post journals to ledgers Provide specialised advice and information on the organisation s products and services Arrange travel bookings and itineraries, make appointments, screen telephone calls, respond to invitations, organise internal meetings on behalf of executives Application of specialist terminology/processes in professional offices Call Centre Principal Customer Contact Specialist (equal to a Clerical Officer Grade 4) Level 4 (equal to a Clerical Officer Grade 4, Administration Officer Grade 5) Typically an employee who achieved a level of organisation or industry specific knowledge sufficient for them to give advice and/or information to the organisation and clients in relation to specific areas of their responsibility. Require only limited guidance or direction and would normally report to more senior staff as required Supervision and training of employees in lower levels in terms of responsibility for the allocation of duties, coordinating work flow, checking progress, quality of work and resolving problems Exercise initiative, discretion and judgment in the performance of their duties Secretarial/executive support services such as maintaining executive diary, attending executive/organisational meetings and taking minutes, establishing and/or maintaining current working and personal filing systems for executives, answering executive correspondence from verbal or handwritten instructions 5
Able to prepare financial/tax schedules, calculating costings and/or wage and salary requirements, completing personnel/payroll data for authorization, reconciliation of accounts to balance Advice on employment conditions, workers compensation procedures and regulations, superannuation entitlements, procedures and regulations Level 5 (equal to an Administration Officer Grade 6) Typically an employee who has worked or studies in a relevant field and will have achieved a standard of specialist knowledge and experience sufficient to enable them to advise on a range of activities and features and contribute as required to the determination of objections within their area of expertise. Responsible and accountable for own work and may have delegated responsibility for the work under their control or supervision including scheduling work loads, resolving operations problems, monitoring the quality of work produced and counseling staff for performance and work related matters. Use of complex computer software packages Provision of reports to management in any of the areas of accounting, financial, staffing, legislation or other company activities Administration of individual executive salary packages, travel expenses, allowances and company transport, administer salary and payroll requirements of the organisation Call Centre Technical Associate (equal to an Administration Officer Grade 6) 6
ADULT RATES Modern Award Classification Level 1 Level 2 WAGE RATES APPLYING FROM 1 JULY 2016 Modern Award Weekly Wage $ Hourly Rate $ Casual Hourly Rate $ Year 1 715.20 18.82 23.52 Year 2 750.60 19.75 24.68 Year 3 774.10 20.37 25.46 Year 1 783.30 20.61 25.76 Year 2 797.80 20.99 26.23 Level 3 827.30 21.77 27.21 Call Centre Principle Contact 833.10 21.92 27.40 Level 4 (Grade 4/Grade 5) 868.70 22.86 28.57 Level 5 904.00 23.78 29.72 Call Centre Technical Associate 990.20 26.05 32.56 JUNIOR RATES Age % Under 16 years 45 At 16 years 50 At 17 years 60 At 18 years 70 At 19 years 80 At 20 years 90 ADDITIONAL ALLOWANCES Clause No Brief Description Amount 19.1 Transport of employees shiftworkers Cost of transport home 19.2 (a) 19.2 (b) 19.2 (c)(i) 19.2 (c)(ii) Clothing and footwear Damage to clothing Wet and damaging to footwear Wear and launder a uniform (full time employees) Wear and launder a uniform (part time or casual employees) Cost of uniform or protective clothing Cost of appropriate protective footwear Cost of uniform and $3.55 weekly for laundry Cost of uniform and $0.71 per shift for laundry 19.3 (a) Meal allowance $14.98 $11.99 in addition if overtime exceeds 4 hours 19.4 (a)(i) 19.4 (a)(ii) 19.4 (b) 19.5 (a)(i) 19.5 (a)(ii) 19.5 (c) Vehicle allowance Motor cars Motorcycles Motor vehicle provided by employer Living away from home Fares Board and lodging Travelling $0.78 per kilometre, max 400 km per week $0.26 per kilometre, max 400 km per week All expenses Allowance to cover fares Allowance to cover board and lodging OTE for time spent travelling 19.6 First aid $11.47 per week 19.7 Higher duties allowance Rate which would be applicable if such duties were performed on a permanent basis 7