You Can't Beat Common Sense...
You are here:...or our specialist knowledge, years of experience and acute understanding of awards, especially in the context of transition to modern award rates and penalties. The Fair Work Ombudsman is faced with an impossible task. We recount an online chat room discussion with the FWO, which shows they are feeling the strain.
The Transition Monster
Fair Work Australia (the peak industrial relations tribunal), in all innocence, has created a veritable monster - the transition to modern awards rates and penalties. Thankfuly, we have a lot of experience with what needs to happen and how to solve the problem for our clients. More on this elsewhere.
Complexity of the Task
For the Fair Work Ombudsman, charged with responsibility for providing information to employers and employees on wage rates under the transition to the modern awards, the task must be a nightmare. They needed to develop a system to provide wage information for each classification under more than 4000 old awards, to the 120 or so new moden awards.
Each award has its own unique classification structure and wage rates, so the 4000 awards need to be multiplied by the number of old classifications. Rates will often be different across States and Territories. And they will need to account for junior wage rates, different employment types (e.g. full time or casual), and other differences.
And they also need to determine the penalty rates under each of the old awards, so they can then transition them to the penalties under the new awards.
Its a mind-boggling exercise. You would expect there to be some errors along the way, but everyone expects the FWO to get it right, as evidenced by a recent 'chat room' exchange we had with the FWO today. It went like this...
You are now chatting with 'Name Withheld' from FWO
FWO : Welcome to the Fair Work Ombudsmans' Live Help service. How can I help you today?
ER Strategies: I see a problem with PayCheck for NSW Fast Food. The calculator says the NFFR Award applies. It was not a common rule award in NSW and only applied to minimal employers in NSW.
FWO : Ok, It may have something to do with the information you selected.
ER Strategies: The questions must be misleading then. These people were probably award free.
FWO : I have had a play with it and does not provide you with a NSW NAPSA. Usually Fast Food employees fall under the Shops Award.
ER Strategies: That's right
FWO : PayCheck will not be of assistance to everyone.
ER Strategies: Well it shouldn't give wrong answers, should it?
FWO : Is there a specific question I can help you with?
ER Strategies: I think you have answered it. Thanks
ERS Comment - we don't envy the FWO in its role. Under the legislation, it is a servant, not a player in the system which could work out practical ways of working out how to make sense of a very complex situation.
The lack of clarity of the FWA decision on transitional rates has led to countless disagreements amongst IR experts about how it should be applied in practice, with huge amounts of complexity. Typical employers therefore don't stand a chance of working it out for themselves.
ER Strategies has always prided itself on practical solutions. We are developing various calculators to perform wage calculations on the transitioning rates and penalties, so we can issue our clients with wage schedules ahead of the commencement of the modern award transition on 1 July 2010.
The complexity of the transition process means applying generic solutions to your award situation can and will result in errors.
If you are a client (or have decided you want to become one) and need help with the modern award transition, feel free to call us on 1300 55 66 37.
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