Awards and agreements
If you are a salaried employee, your conditions of work may be covered by an agreement and/or an award.
Agreements
An agreement is a legally binding and enforceable document signed by both the employer and the employee, which contains an employee’s terms and conditions of employment. It is commonly known as a Contract of Employment. Different types of agreements have different legal requirements.
Awards
An Award is a minimum set of wages and conditions that is ensured by either Federal or State legislation. Coverage by State and Federal awards overlap in certain industries.
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Agreements
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Awards
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Individual
Formal employment agreements between an employer and an individual are called Australian Workplace Agreements. (AWAs). If you have an AWA with your employer, it must be in writing.
AWAs are approved by the Federal Government Office of the Employment Advocate. www.oea.gov.au
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Group
Formal agreements between an employer and a group of two more employees, or a union or unions, are called Certified Agreements (CAs).
Federal agreements are set or determined by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC). www.airc.gov.au
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Federal
Federal awards apply only to specific employers within a particular industry.
They are approved by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC). www.airc.gov.au
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State
Generally apply to particular industries or occupational groups – the exception to this rule is the Territories where federal awards apply to particular industries and occupational groups.
State awards are approved by the Industrial Relations Commission for their particular State. For links visit the Workplace Authority website. www.workplaceauthority.gov.au
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Negotiating your rate of pay
If you do have to negotiate your rate of pay under an AWA, here are some hints on finding information:
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Ask your family for information on wages.
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Check out employment advertisements to see what other companies are paying their employees to do the same sort of job.
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Find out from the relevant union what the Award rate of pay is for the job, and how much someone with the amount of experience you have should be getting paid.
You can get a lot of information off the Internet from sites like Seek (www.seek.com.au). You can also get information on wages and conditions from historical and current federal awards or collective agreements from the Workplace Authority website at www.workplaceauthority.gov.au
If you feel the rate of pay that you are being offered is too low then you can ask for a higher rate. The company might accept or refuse this amount, or offer you a compromise. It is rare to be negotiating for pay rates for your first job, but in the future it could be a good skill.
How to make sense of a payslip.
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