Pursuant to the 2017 annual wage review ruling which was issued by the Fair Work Commission this morning:
- minimum rates of pay in Modern Awards will increase by 3.3%; and
- the national minimum wage will increase to $694.90 per week or $18.29 per hour (an increase of $22.20 per week to the weekly rate or 59 cents per hour to the hourly rate).
The increase in minimum wages will take effect from 1 July 2017.
Given the above, employers should review their pay arrangements and ensure they are prepared for the increase in wages.
In other news, the Fair Work Commission issued a further decision yesterday in relation to the controversial penalty rates decision which we discussed in our article here. The decision released yesterday was to the effect that the reductions to the Sunday penalty rates in specified Modern Awards will be phased in gradually over the next four years with the first set of reductions to begin on 1 July 2017. As a reminder, the reductions to public holiday rates in the specified Modern Awards are not being phased in and will take effect on 1 July 2017.
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