The Australian Pay and Classification Scales were legal instruments that formed part of the 2006

WorkChoices WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard Government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the ''Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choice ...

amendments to Australian labour law''.'' These instruments were abolished when the

Fair Work Act 2009 The ''Fair Work Act 2009'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, passed by the Rudd Government to reform the industrial relations system of Australia. It replaced the Howard Government's WorkChoices legislation, it established Fai ...

commenced operation in 2010. WorkChoices removed wage rates from federal awards and Notional Agreements Preserving State Awards (NAPSAs). On 27 March 2007, for employees covered by the WorkChoices system, notional Australian Pay and Classification Scales were established. While every federal award and NAPSA had its own notional Scales existing at law, actual documents encapsulating the Scales were never created or published. On 18 December 2007 the

Australian Fair Pay Commission The Australian Fair Pay Commission was an Australian statutory body that existed from 2006 to 2009. It was created under the Howard Government's "''WorkChoices''" industrial relations laws in 2006 to set the minimum pay for workers. Established t ...

announced it would suspend the creation and publication of Scales. Instead, "Pay Scale Summaries" were eventually published by the

Workplace Authority The Workplace Authority was an Australian Government statutory agency that existed from 1 July 2007 to 1 July 2009. It replaced and expanded the role of the Office of the Employment Advocate, which had existed since 1997. It was itself replaced b ...

(and remain available from the

Fair Work Commission The Fair Work Commission (FWC), until 2013 known as Fair Work Australia (FWA), is the Australian industrial relations tribunal created by the ''Fair Work Act 2009'' as part of the Rudd Government's reforms to industrial relations in Austral ...

website). They include this disclaimer: "the Commonwealth of Australia does not give any guarantee, undertaking or warranty whatsoever in relation to the summary, including in relation to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the summary." However, they also state that satisfaction of the terms of the summaries will satisfy the Workplace Ombudsman that the employer has complied with its obligations under the relevant Scales. Scales contained coverage provisions, classifications, frequency of payment provisions, and wage rates including casual loadings, junior, trainee and apprentice rates. Wage rates may be expressed as basic periodic rates of pay (an hourly rate) or, where an award or NAPSA contains such provisions, as basic piece rates of pay. Changes from the previous system of wages contained in awards included that basic periodic rates were in an hourly (rounded) rather than weekly form, and that wage rates were adjusted by the

rather than the

Australian Industrial Relations Commission The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), known from 1956 to 1973 as the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and from 1973 to 1988 as the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, was a tribunal with powers ...

. Penalty rates, allowances and loadings other than casual loadings remained allowable award matters.''Workplace Relations Act 1996'', Part 10, Division 2 Therefore, provisions for such entitlements in existing awards continued to apply, but only to employees covered by the relevant award. Certain employees in the WorkChoices system were "Payscale only" employees - that is, their minimum terms and conditions at work came only from the Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard and the relevant Scales. These employees included those who worked for businesses created on or after 27 March 2006, and employees previously covered by a collective agreement (CA) or Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) that was terminated on or after 27 March 2006. Where a CA or AWA was lodged after 27 March 2006 (a post-reform agreement), it was not to contain provisions that were less than the Standard, including the relevant Scales. Where a post-reform agreement contained a basic periodic or piece rate of pay less than the relevant Scales, the Scales would override that agreement provision.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Pay And Classification Scales Government of Australia Employee compensation in Australia