HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Australian Pay and Classification Scales were legal instruments that formed part of the 2006
WorkChoices WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard Government#Fourth term: 2004–2007, Howard Government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the '' ...
amendments to
Australian labour law Australian labour law concerns Commonwealth, state, and common law on rights and duties of workers, unions and employers in Australia. Australian labour law (also known as industrial relations law) has a dual structure, where some employment is ...
''.'' These instruments were abolished when the Fair Work Act 2009 commenced operation in 2010. WorkChoices removed wage rates from federal
awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An aw ...
and Notional Agreements Preserving State Awards (NAPSAs). On 27 March 2007, for employees covered by the WorkChoices system, notional Australian Pay and Classification Scales were established. While every federal award and NAPSA had its own notional Scales existing at law, actual documents encapsulating the Scales were never created or published. On 18 December 2007 the
Australian Fair Pay Commission The Australian Fair Pay Commission was an Australian statutory body that existed from 2006 to 2009. It was created under the Howard Government's "''WorkChoices''" industrial relations laws in 2006 to set the minimum pay for workers. Established t ...
announced it would suspend the creation and publication of Scales. Instead, "Pay Scale Summaries" were eventually published by the Workplace Authority (and remain available from the
Fair Work Commission The Fair Work Commission (FWC), until 2013 known as Fair Work Australia (FWA), is the Australian industrial relations tribunal created by the '' Fair Work Act 2009'' as part of the Rudd Government's reforms to industrial relations in Austra ...
website). They include this disclaimer: "the Commonwealth of Australia does not give any guarantee, undertaking or warranty whatsoever in relation to the summary, including in relation to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the summary." However, they also state that satisfaction of the terms of the summaries will satisfy the
Workplace Ombudsman A workplace is a location where someone works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a home office to a large office building or factory. For industrialized societies, the workplace is one of th ...
that the employer has complied with its obligations under the relevant Scales. Scales contained coverage provisions, classifications, frequency of payment provisions, and wage rates including casual loadings, junior, trainee and apprentice rates. Wage rates may be expressed as basic periodic rates of pay (an hourly rate) or, where an award or NAPSA contains such provisions, as basic piece rates of pay. Changes from the previous system of wages contained in awards included that basic periodic rates were in an hourly (rounded) rather than weekly form, and that wage rates were adjusted by the
Australian Fair Pay Commission The Australian Fair Pay Commission was an Australian statutory body that existed from 2006 to 2009. It was created under the Howard Government's "''WorkChoices''" industrial relations laws in 2006 to set the minimum pay for workers. Established t ...
rather than the
Australian Industrial Relations Commission The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), known from 1956 to 1973 as the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and from 1973 to 1988 as the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, was a tribunal with powers ...
. Penalty rates, allowances and loadings other than casual loadings remained allowable award matters.''Workplace Relations Act 1996'', Part 10, Division 2 Therefore, provisions for such entitlements in existing awards continued to apply, but only to employees covered by the relevant award. Certain employees in the WorkChoices system were "Payscale only" employees - that is, their minimum terms and conditions at work came only from the
Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard The Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard was a set of five minimum statutory entitlements for wages and conditions introduced as part of the Howard Government's WorkChoices amendments to Australian labour law in 2006 and then abolished by ...
and the relevant Scales. These employees included those who worked for businesses created on or after 27 March 2006, and employees previously covered by a collective agreement (CA) or Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) that was terminated on or after 27 March 2006. Where a CA or AWA was lodged after 27 March 2006 (a post-reform agreement), it was not to contain provisions that were less than the Standard, including the relevant Scales. Where a post-reform agreement contained a basic periodic or piece rate of pay less than the relevant Scales, the Scales would override that agreement provision.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Pay And Classification Scales Government of Australia Employee compensation in Australia