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1 July 2019 changes to the unfair dismissal remuneration cap
Introduction New award rates, thresholds and other changes in the employment arena commence from 1 July 2019. The following article briefly summarises the main changes that employers should be aware of. Unfair dismissal threshold (high income threshold) and maximum compensation cap The high-income threshold will increase from the previous $145,400 to $148,700 from 1 July 2019. This means employees whose annual rate of earnings is $148,700 (which excludes statutory superannuation) or more and who are not covered by an award or enterprise agreement, are unable to pursue an unfair dismissal application. The change also means that the maximum compensation that can be awarded for an unfair dismissal claim will increase from $72,700 to $74,350. National minimum wage The national minimum wage will increase to $740.80 per week or by $19.49 per hour (calculated on the basis of a 38-hour week for ...
24 June 2019Unfair dismissal claim fails due to the calculation of an employee’s earnings
In a recent case, the Fair Work Commission held that an employee (Mr Maloney) was not entitled to bring an unfair dismissal claim as his income had exceeded the ‘high income threshold’ by $315.02. In this case, the employee’s income, as calculated by the Fair Work Commission, included a portion of the employee’s annual leave loading, fuel allowance and mobile phone entitlements. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) says that an employee who is not covered by an award or enterprise agreement does not receive protection from unfair dismissal if their income exceeds the threshold, currently at $145,400 per annum. In this case, the issue was whether the employee’s entitlements to annual leave loading, fuel allowance and a mobile phone were to be included in his earnings. Regarding the annual leave loading, the Commission found that the full amount of annual leave loading should be included in the calculation of earnings in this case. The Commi...
15 May 2019Minor errors in EAs no longer a reason for delay
An amendment to the Fair Work Act 2009, that was passed by Federal Parliament in early December 2018, gives the Fair Work Commission powers to approve an enterprise agreement that has been genuinely agreed to by employees but has “minor procedural or technical errors” provided that “the employees covered by the agreement were not likely to have been disadvantaged by the errors”. This includes minor errors in a Notice of Employee Representational Rights (NERR). In introducing the legislation, the Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations explained that these amendments will overcome the “unintended, and sometimes absurd, outcomes which have caused lengthy delays” using the example of rejecting an enterprise agreement because the notice to employees at the beginning of the bargaining process was erroneously printed on company letterhead. According to the Minister, “These changes will allow agreements reached betw...
5 February 2019