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The Impact for Hotels of the Recent Fair Work Commission Decision on Annualised Salaries OWEN WEBB - AHA | SA WORKPLACE RELATIONS MANAGER
On 7 April 2022 a Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) handed down their final decision in the Annualised Wage Arrangements matter (AM2016/13) in the 4 yearly review of modern awards. This decision results in some significant changes to the current annualised salary provisions in the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (HIGA) and Restaurant Industry Award 2020 (RIA).
Act 2009 (Cth). The review process requires the FWC to review all modern awards to ensure that they are achieving the modern awards objective.
MODERN AWARD REVIEW
In a decision of a Full Bench of the FWC in February 2018, the Bench determined that a broader review of all annualised salary terms in modern awards was necessary. The Bench also determined that there were inadequate safeguards in the current annualised salary provisions in the HIGA and the RIA and that these arrangements needed to be modified. The Bench invited submissions on a proposed Model Annualised Wage Arrangements Clause to be inserted into the HIGA and RIA.
Since 1 January 2014, the FWC has been conducting a 4-yearly review of modern awards in accordance with Section 156 of the Fair Work
After several years, including a 2-year unofficial deferral of the matter due to the COVID-19 pandemic and several submissions
In this article we look at what the changes are to the annualised salary provisions and what the impacts are for employers when employing salaried non-managerial staff in the future.
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and hearings from interested parties, the matter has now been finalised by the FWC with a final decision issued on 7 April 2022. So how do the current annualised salary provisions in the HIGA compare to the new provisions that will come into operation this year? EXISTING ANNUALISED SALARY PROVISIONS – HIGA ( CLAUSE 24 ) The current annualised salary provisions in the HIGA (Clause 24), allow for an individual nonmanagerial employee and their employer to agree on an annualised salary which must be at least 25% more than the minimum weekly wage prescribed in clause 18 of the HIGA multiplied by 52 for the work being performed. The annualised salary satisfies the requirement to pay overtime Back to Contents
