A modern award stipulates the minimum conditions of employment. It is possible to improve upon awards by a private agreement, however, any agreement to accept lower standards than those stipulated by an award are unenforceable. Modern awards do not apply to high income earners. They cannot be altered, except by Fair Work Australia (FWA-the body who deals with employment issues), if FWA is satisfied that the variation is justified by work value reasons, or if there is a variation to remove ambiguities or correct errors, or a variation referred by the Australian Human Rights Commission. The concept of modern awards is a product of the new Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), and the awards come into effect as of 1 January 2010. A breach of an award will lead to statutory penalties and will only be considered a breach of contract if the terms of the award have been incorporated into an employment agreement.
Modern awards may include terms about:
- Minimum wages
- Type of employment
- Arrangements for when work is performed
- Overtime rates
- Penalty rates
- Annualised wage arrangements
- Allowances- work related expenses etc
- Leave, leave loadings
- Superannuation
- Procedures for consultation, representation and dispute settlement.
- May include terms about employees who are outworkers
Modern awards must not include terms which are objectionable or discriminatory, terms which outline payments and deductions for the benefit of employers, terms about right of entry, or terms dealing with long service leave.
Fair Work Australia must conduct a 4 yearly review of modern awards. Any variation to awards must be justified by work value reasons (amount that employees should be paid for doing certain amount of work). However, Fair Work Australia cannot reduce coverage to certain employees or employers.
At Prime Lawyers we have acted for many satisfied employers and employees in recent times. Our employment lawyers keep up-to-date with the rapidly changing area of law. If you feel that these conditions are not applied in your workplace, feel free to contact us on (02) 9521 2222 to speak to one of our experienced employment lawyers. You can also send your enquiry online now and we will contact you shortly.