The Fair Work Commission Minimum Wage Panel handed down its annual National Minimum Wage review decision today.
The National Minimum Wage
The Fair Work Commission has announced a 3.3% increase to the National Minimum Wage. Applicable from the first full pay period commencing on or after 1 July 2017 the new national minimum adult wage will be $694.90 or $18.29 per hour. This constitutes an increase of $22.20 per week to the weekly rate or 59 cents per hour.
Award Based Employees
The 3.3% increase will also flow into all the Modern Awards rates of pay in the coming weeks and be applicable from the first full pay period commencing on or after 1 July 2017. Weekly wages within Awards will be rounded to the nearest 10 cents as part of the process of applying the increase.
Employers checklist for 1 July 2017
- • No changes take effect until the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2017.
- • An employer who has Award free employees must at least pay them at the National Minimum Wage rate from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2017.
- • An employer with Award free junior employees must pay those employees at the appropriate percentage of the National Minimum Wage rate from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2017.
- • Any employer who pays their employees at the minimum Award rate of pay will be required to increase pay rates by 3.3% from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2017.
- • The incoming increases to the Award rates of pay can be absorbed into an employee’s current rates of pay if the result leaves the pay rate at least equal to the adjusted Award minimum rates.
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