02 Jun HR LAW ALERT: ANNUAL WAGE REVIEW 2022/2023

The Fair Work Commission (“FWC”) has today delivered its annual wage review 2022/2023 decision, increasing the National Minimum Wage (“NMW”) from $812.60 per week or $21.38 per hour to $882.80 per week or $23.23 per hour from 1 July 2023. This is an increase of $70.2 per week or $1.85 per hour to the hourly rate. 

The FWC also decided to increase Modern Award minimum wages by 5.75%.

The FWC advised that in determining the increase, it placed significant weight on the impact of the current rate of inflation on the ability of modern award-reliant employees, especially the low paid, to meet their basic financial needs.  The FWC also considered the recent robustness of the labour market, and the fact that increases to modern award minimum wage rates will provide a disproportionate benefit to female workers and thus may contribute to reducing the aggregate gender pay gap across the workforce.

When will the increases take effect?

The increase to the minimum wage and to Modern Awards will operate from 1 July 2023.

A summary of the decision can be accessed here: https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/resources/annual-wage-review-2022-23-decision-announcement.pdf

If any of your employees are covered by a modern award and you are unsure what modern award and/or minimum rate will apply and when, contact the HR Law team for assistance.   We can also assist with reviewing your current contracts of employment and wage rates to see if the increases announced today can be absorbed into your existing pay arrangements.

A reminder for Enterprise Agreement covered employers – if you have an Enterprise Agreement covering any of your employees, the rate increase may also affect you. Specifically, Enterprise Agreement based employees cannot be paid less than the minimum base rate that they would be paid under an applicable modern award.  Accordingly, you should conduct a review of the base rates under your Enterprise Agreement and compare this to the rate each employee would receive under the applicable modern award when the increase takes effect.  You should also check if the Enterprise Agreement contains an increase mechanism for rates that apply in the new financial year and the effect of the phased increases.  The HR Law team can assist you with this process.

The team at HR Law remain committed to assisting employers navigate their legal obligations and the changes and developments in the law. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact us on 07 3211 3350.