Latest news with #AdamHatcher
AU Financial Review
2 days ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Minister accused of intervention in penalty rates case
The Fair Work Commission is considering delaying its ruling on whether retailers should be able to waive penalty rates in return for offering a 35 per cent pay rise after the Albanese government flagged laws to block the move were imminent. In what employers called 'a highly unusual intervention', new Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth wrote to FWC president Justice Adam Hatcher last week to advise she planned to legislate to ban reductions in award penalty rates 'as soon as possible' and highlighted the government's opposition to the retailers' penalty rates case.
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Three million workers are getting a pay rise. Here's how it could affect you
Millions of Australian workers will receive one of their largest real pay rises in years after the Fair Work Commission upped minimum wages by 3.5 per cent, delivering the country's lowest paid an extra $32 a week. About 180,000 people will see their hourly rate increase from $24.10 to $24.95 from July 1 because of Tuesday morning's ruling by the industrial umpire, but its consequences extend far beyond those on the absolute lowest wages to all workers covered by an industry award. The commission's pay panel said that pay for the fifth of Australian workers on industry minimum pay rates had gone backward since 2021 because of inflation, but that price rises had been brought under control. 'We are satisfied that the level of wage increase we have determined is sustainable,' it said in a statement. In the case of modern awards, the benchmark C10 award rate of pay has declined by 4.5 percentage points relative to inflation as measured by the consumer price index. But what does that mean for the economy? Which workers will this affect? And how much money will they get? Nearly 3 million Australians will get a pay rise – and some workers will miss out Australia's industrial system has minimum pay rules for 121 industries, from aviation to health and the law. According to the federal government, up to 2.9 million workers have their pay set through those rules. That includes about 180,000 who are on the absolute national minimum wage, which is $24.10 and will be $24.95 when the increase starts on July 1. The award system also includes workers on much higher pay, such as airline pilots earning almost $220,000. Loading The pay of all of those workers, who are concentrated in industries such as hospitality, retail and the service sector, will automatically rise by 3.5 per cent. That means a childcare worker on the minimum hourly rate will get an extra 85 cents an hour, whereas the captain of a large airliner will get an extra $3.88. Other workers will miss out. They include people whose pay is higher than award minimums, set through enterprise bargaining agreements, are self-employed, or in jobs that are too senior to be covered by an award, such as high-level managers and professionals. The Fair Work Commission considered multiple factors – particularly living standards and inflation Tuesday's decision announced by Fair Work Commission president Adam Hatcher said the pay panel had considered relative living standards, needs of workers, workforce participation, economic competitiveness and gender equality. The commission also considered the Reserve Bank of Australia's assessment that the nation's inflationary episode was over, having spiked in 2022, and that said inflation had sustainably returned to the target band of 2-3 per cent. 'The continuation of this inflationary episode has meant that over the last three annual wage review decisions the Fair Work Commission has repeatedly deferred taking any action to reverse this decline in real wages out of the concern this might result in the persistence of higher inflation,' he said. 'The result has been that living standards for the employees dependent on modern award wages have been squeezed and the low paid have experienced greater difficulty in meeting their everyday needs.' Hatcher said this was a key factor in the commission's decision to award a real increase in the minimum wage. 'We are concerned that if this opportunity is not taken … the loss in the real value of wages which has occurred will become permanently embedded.' When was the last increase? The Fair Work Commission sets the minimum wage every year before July 1. Last year, the commission announced a 3.75 per cent increase. The commission's pay panel sets the minimum wage each year to give the lowest-paid workers an increase in income, balanced against factors including the jobs market, inflation and growth in the economy. Inflation was factored into the FWC's decision. But views are split on whether wage rises will increase inflation Chief executive of business group the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Andrew McKellar – who suggested the commission opt for a smaller a 2.5 per cent wage increase – said the increase was generous and risked increasing inflation. 'It is a bump above inflation and it comes on the back of stronger increases over the past two years,' he said. 'For businesses that are most vulnerable, particularly small and medium-size businesses in sectors like retail, restaurants [and] cafes … an increase of this magnitude will be very difficult for them to swallow.' However, Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus, who wanted a 4.5 per cent increase, welcomed the decision as a 'great outcome'. '3.5 per cent means [the Fair Work Commission is] starting to catch up again, and that makes an enormous amount of difference in terms of people's bills, people's ability to pay for the basics,' she said at a press conference in Melbourne. 'I do think that the government's argument that a real wage increase is economically sustainable was something the commission listened to, and I do believe that 3.5 per cent does fit with what the government was arguing, and that means that people are getting ahead.' Workplace Minister Amanda Rishworth said the Fair Work Commission's decision was consistent with the government's submission. 'We argued for an economically sustainable real-wage increase for our lowest-paid workers,' she said. 'This decision will have a positive impact on workers … that rely on our award system.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Millions of Australian workers to secure 3.5% pay rise
Australia's 2.9million workers on awards have been given a 3.5 per cent increase that's well above inflation to help them deal with years of wages failing to keep pace with the cost-of-living crisis. The Fair Work Commission's increase, coming into effect on July 1, was above the headline inflation rate of 2.4 per cent and in between what was sought by employers and unions. But the annual wage review decision, affecting many low-paid workers, marked the weakest rise since 2021, when a 2.5 per cent increase was awarded and was less than last year's 3.75 per cent increase. It takes the full-time minimum weekly wage to $948, marking a $32.10 rise, as the minimum hourly pay goes up by 85 cents to $24.95. The decision will affect 2.7million Australians, or one in five workers, who are employed under one of 121 awards, along with the 180,000 people on the minimum wage. Low-paid workers in the retail, hospitality, healthcare and administrative support sectors are the key beneficiaries. Fair Work Commission president Adam Hatcher delivered the industrial umpire's decision at 10am on Tuesday, noting the low-paid are 'disproportionately female' and had suffered cuts in real wages adjusted for inflation until recently. 'The principal consideration, which has guided our decision, is the fact that since July 2021, employees who are reliant on modern award minimum wages or the national minimum wage have suffered a reduction in the real value of their wage rates,' he said. 'This reduction in real modern award wages and the national minimum wage has been a result of the spike in inflation which commenced in 2021 and peaked in late 2022. The result has been that living standards for employees dependent on modern award wages have been squeezed and the low paid have experienced greater difficulty in meeting their everyday needs.' Justice Hatcher, a Labor appointee, said that while other Fair Work Commission decisions were generous, the industrial umpire had been concerned about a wage-price spiral and had therefore only awarded previous increases in line with inflation. 'The continuation of this inflationary episode has meant that over the last three annual wage review decisions, the Fair Work Commission has repeatedly deferred taking any action to reverse this decline in real wages out of a concern that this might result in the persistence of higher inflation,' he said. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the nation's biggest employer group, had argued for a 2.5 per cent increase that barely kept pace with inflation while the Australian Council of Trade Unions had argued for a 4.5 per cent rise. The latest increase is much smaller compared with recent years, given inflation has moderated since reaching a 32-year high of 7.8 per cent in late 2022. But it is a full percentage point higher than the headline inflation rate of 2.4 per cent. Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth said the Fair Work Commission decision was responsible, after the government argued for an increase that was above inflation that would give workers a meaningful real wage rise. 'Our government believes that workers should get ahead with an economically sustainable real wage increase,' she said. 'A real wage increase provides further relief to our lowest paid workers who continue to face cost-of-living pressures.' Under Labor, the minimum wage went up by 8.6 per cent in 2023 as awards rose by 5.75 per cent, which had been the biggest increase since 1990. This followed a 5.2 per cent increase in 2022 that at the time had been the highest increase in the minimum wage since the mining boom in 2006. The headline and underlying rates of inflation are now within the Reserve Bank of Australia's two to three per cent target, giving it room to cut interest rates. This is something the Fair Work Commission noted. 'The Reserve Bank of Australia's assessment that inflation has sustainably returned to its target range of two to three per cent indicates that this inflationary episode is now over,' Justice Hatcher said. 'That provides us with an opportunity to go at least some of the way towards correcting what has happened over the last four years by awarding a real increase to modern award wages and the national minimum wage. We are concerned that if this opportunity is not taken in this annual wage review, the loss in the real value of wages which has occurred will become permanently embedded in the modern award system and the national minimum wage, and a reduction in living standards for the lowest paid in the community will thereby be entrenched.' With unemployment still low at 4.1 per cent, workers outside of awards have more leeway to bargain for higher wages. But weak productivity also means wage increases have to be passed on to customers, potentially feeding into inflation. The Australian Industry Group's chief executive Innes Willox slammed the latest 3.5 per cent increase in awards and the minimum wage at a time of weak productivity growth.
Yomiuri Shimbun
3 days ago
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Australia Raises Minimum Wages by 3.5% as Inflation Eases
Reuters file photo A woman uses a machine to emboss a wallet in the window of a retail store selling leather goods in central Sydney, Australia, November 15, 2017. SYDNEY, June 3 (Reuters) – Australia's independent wage-setting body on Tuesday raised the national minimum wage by 3.5% effective July 1, a real wage increase for about 2.6 million workers on the lowest pay as inflationary pressures ease in the economy. The minimum rate will rise to A$24.94 ($16.19) per hour, resulting in an extra A$1,670 in a year for full-time employees, according to the Fair Work Commission's (FWC) annual review. Headline consumer price inflation held at 2.4% in the first quarter, comfortably within the Reserve Bank of Australia's target band of 2% to 3% and having come down from the 7.8% peak in late 2022. FWC President Adam Hatcher said the decision could help many workers to recoup the loss of their real income over the last few years due to high living costs. 'If this opportunity is not taken in this annual wage review, a loss in the real value of wages which has occurred will become permanently embedded … and a reduction of living standards for the lowest paid in the community will thereby be entrenched,' Hatcher said. Last year, the FWC increased minimum wages by 3.75% but that was largely in line with inflation. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) described the wage increase as 'a great outcome' for employees on minimum wages, who it said suffered the most when inflation soared after the COVID-19 pandemic. 'Our lowest-paid workers are getting ahead again,' ACTU Secretary Sally McManus told reporters. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to a two-year low last month as cooling inflation at home offered scope to counter rising global trade risks, and left the door open to further easing in the months ahead. At the same time, the labor market has remained surprisingly resilient, with the jobless rate hovering at 4.1% for over a year now. Employment gains have been driven by a surge in public sector jobs, with still tepid wage growth suggesting few risks of a damaging wage-price spiral.
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Australia raises minimum wages by 3.5% as inflation eases
The decision could help many workers recover lost real income from recent years affected by rising living costs. (Unsplash pic) SYDNEY : Australia's independent wage-setting body on Tuesday raised the national minimum wage by 3.5% effective July 1, a real wage increase for about 2.6 million workers on the lowest pay as inflationary pressures ease in the economy. The minimum rate will rise to A$24.94 (US$16.19) per hour, resulting in an extra A$1,670 in a year for full-time employees, according to the Fair Work Commission's (FWC) annual review. Headline consumer price inflation held at 2.4% in the first quarter, comfortably within the Reserve Bank of Australia's target band of 2% to 3% and having come down from the 7.8% peak in late 2022. FWC President Adam Hatcher said the decision could help many workers to recoup the loss of their real income over the last few years due to high living costs. 'If this opportunity is not taken in this annual wage review, a loss in the real value of wages which has occurred will become permanently embedded … and a reduction of living standards for the lowest paid in the community will thereby be entrenched,' Hatcher said. Last year, the FWC increased minimum wages by 3.75% but that was largely in line with inflation. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) described the wage increase as 'a great outcome' for employees on minimum wages, who it said suffered the most when inflation soared after the Covid-19 pandemic. 'Our lowest-paid workers are getting ahead again,' ACTU secretary Sally McManus told reporters. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to a two-year low last month as cooling inflation at home offered scope to counter rising global trade risks, and left the door open to further easing in the months ahead. At the same time, the labour market has remained surprisingly resilient, with the jobless rate hovering at 4.1% for over a year now. Employment gains have been driven by a surge in public sector jobs, with still tepid wage growth suggesting few risks of a damaging wage-price spiral.
