20 March 2023
Most modern awards and enterprise agreements provide for allowances which are usually paid to employees who complete certain tasks, have a particular skill, or tool, or work in onerous or dangerous conditions. These are paid in addition to their ordinary income.
Allowances are one of the components that can contribute to underpayments. Businesses must consider various factors of underpayments. Although they may diligently check award rates, keep up with minimum wage increases, and apply penalties and loadings, they often overlook allowances.
Allowances are specific to each industry’s award. Therefore, if a business has employees covered by multiple awards, they must be familiar with the relevant allowances for each award.
The ‘higher duties allowance’ is a type of allowance commonly present in several awards, such as those for retail, children’s services, hospitality, and nursing, that employers often overlook.
Rather than a fixed sum, the higher duties allowance is a concept that dictates that an employee working at a higher level than their assigned classification should receive payment at the wage rate of the higher level. Some awards enforce limitations on the application of this principle by restricting its availability to work performed beyond a certain number of hours or days. It is crucial for businesses to understand when and under what circumstances they must provide a higher duties allowance.
Certain allowances are computed based on a percentage of the ‘standard rate,’ which is the minimum wage assigned to a particular classification by the award. Consequently, the allowance payment will increase each year on 1 July when the minimum wage is adjusted.
While other allowances have fixed amounts, it is advisable not to become complacent since these figures are frequently modified to account for changes in the consumer price index. As a result, businesses may be caught off-guard when the amount they are required to pay for a specific allowance increases from one year to the next. To avoid such surprises, it is crucial to remain up to date with your award obligations.
Although failing to pay or underpaying allowances may only result in a minor shortfall, it still constitutes an underpayment that can lead to significant penalties. As such, it is advisable to become well informed in all relevant awards and their corresponding allowances. Additionally, regularly reviewing the most current versions of the awards can help ensure that any changes or increases in allowances are promptly identified.
If this seems too much for you, that’s where Now Actually can help. We have all this information available and can help apply it to your business. If you need help, email us at [email protected].
