Myth: all managers and professionals are award free
Do you pay any of your employees more than $133,000 p.a excluding super, commissions, overtime, bonuses etc?
If not, they may still be covered by an Award which entitles them to annual leave loading, allowances, penalties, overtime rates and the like.
Awards now cover most roles and industries in Australia. However, there are still a lot of general misconceptions about this.
Managers and professionals not traditionally covered by awards included accountants and finance, marketing, legal, human resources, public relations and information technology specialists. However, this is no longer the case in many industries.
An award-free employee is an employee that performs work that extends beyond the classification structure in any modern award: it is not just based on the title of their position or how much they get paid.
One exception to the rule is High Income Employees i.e. someone who is guaranteed to earn an annual amount greater than $133,000* per annum excluding commissions, superannuation, bonuses, overtime etc. This figure is reviewed on an annual basis and anyone earning above this rate is considered to be award-free. However the National Employment Standards still apply.
If you are currently paying your staff an Annualised Salary less than the high income threshold to cover allowances, penalty rates, annual leave loading etc this needs to be in writing. We also recommend undertaking annual reviews at the end of July each year to ensure the annual salary continues to satisfy the Award provisions it is intended to cover.
Click here to check if your employees are award free.
If you need assistance managing employee entitlements feel free to contact us at humanresourceservices.com.au
Cheryl Koppman
Director and Principal
*rate applicable as at 1/7/2014.
