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Modern Awards and your business
4 essential steps for employers
For businesses without registered individual or collective agreements
Modern Awards now apply to most businesses in NSW, so you need to be sure that you understand which award/s apply to your workplace, and how to implement them in your business. Around 120 Modern Awards have replaced the 1500 federal and state awards which operated under the previous system. Modern Awards, together with the National Employment Standards (NES) and the national minimum wage orders, form the safety net for employees under the new Fair Work system. Under the Fair Work Act 2009, penalties of up to $6,600 for an individual and $33,000 for a corporation may apply to a breach of a term of a Modern Award and/or the NES. STEP 1 – IDENTIFY your awards What Modern Awards cover your employees now? Identifying the Modern Award or award/s that apply to your business may require specialist advice. If you are a member of NSW Business Chamber, you should have received a letter regarding your NSW Business Chamber Modern Award Services (previously known as Industrial Award Services), detailing the awards we currently provide to you, and the Modern Award/s we believe replace your former award. If you did not receive this letter, please call the Business Hotline on 13 26 96. If you are not a member of NSW Business Chamber and would like assurance that you are making the right decisions for your business regarding the new Fair Work system, call 13 26 96 to find out more about NSW Business Chamber membership. STEP 2 – COMPARE the old award/s with the new Modern Award/s Compare the provisions of the former award/s with the provisions of the Modern Award/s AND the NES. If the former award conditions are better, then they may still apply to your employees. Are you a member of NSW Business Chamber? Call the Workplace Advice Line on 13 29 59 if you have questions about the conditions of your award/s or conditions under previous agreements that might still apply to your employees. If you are not a member of NSW Business Chamber and would like assurance that you are making the right decisions for your business regarding the new Fair Work system, call 13 26 96 to find out more about NSW Business Chamber membership. STEP 3 – CHECK for transitional provisions Do your Modern Award/s have transitional provisions? If they do, then some of the changes, generally including wages, loading, penalties and non-expense related allowances, won’t come into effect until at least July 2010. Note this will be the case with most Modern Awards. You will need to work out your transitional requirements under the awards that affect your business. Are you a member of NSW Business Chamber? Call the Workplace Advice Line on 13 29 59 if you need help identifying the transitional provisions that will affect your business. If you are not a member of NSW Business Chamber and would like assurance that you are making the right decisions for your business regarding the new Fair Work System, call 13 26 96 to find out more about NSW Business Chamber membership STEP 4 – REVIEW your HR documentation Make sure you review ALL your employment arrangements.You may need to gain some advice or use a product such as HR Advance to assist you. Not sure where to start? Use the Essential IR Compliance Checklist, which will take you through the contracts, policies, checklists and correspondence you need to update to be compliant. Additional helpful links Fair Work Australia Fair Work Ombudsman NSW Business Chamber Membership information HR Advance
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