Get set for a 3.5% wage increase

Heads up! End of financial year is only a few weeks away and the start of a new financial year generally means new pay rates for employees. A recent announcement by the Fair Work Commission is something you might need to be aware of.

What’s the news?
On 1 June 2018 the Fair Work Commission announced a 3.5% increase to minimum wages following its 2018 Annual Wage Review.

For approximately 200,000 workers who are paid the national minimum wage, base wages for the 38-hour working week will increase from $18.29 an hour ($694.90 per week) to $18.93 an hour or $719.20 per week.

As in previous years, the Fair Work Commission also increased minimum wages for up to 2.3 million workers who have their pay set by any of the 122 Modern Awards by 3.5 per cent.

The increase will apply to base rates of pay from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2018.

The change only applies to employees who get their pay rates from the national minimum wage, a Modern Award or in some cases a registered agreement.

Fun facts?
The Fair Work Act 2009 requires the Fair Work Commission’s expert panel to conduct a review of the national minimum wage (NMW) and minimum wages in Modern Awards in each financial year.

The number of employees who have their pay set by an Award is estimated to be 2.3 million or 22.7 per cent of all employees. The proportion of employees that are paid at the adult national minimum wage rate is estimated to be 1.9 per cent

Friday’s decision compares to a 3.3 per cent increase in 2017 and a 2.4 per cent increase in 2016 for the national minimum wage and Award wages.

What happens next?
It usually takes the Commission 2-3 weeks to update pay rates in each Award. Following this, they will issue an updated Pay Guide for each of the Modern Awards.

More information?
The Fair Work Ombudsman’s News & Media Releases information on the wage increase decision is available here.

If you’re unsure whether last week’s wage increase announcement applies to your business why not shoot us an email through the Bare Bones Consulting “Contact Us” page? We got your back with all things HR.

Need extra nerdy stuff?
If you really want to charm the ladies and impress the men, tell your colleagues you watched the live stream of the Commission handing down their decision at 11.00am on 1 June 2018. And you’ve read the 11-page Summary of Decision. You’ll be the talk of the office.