Regional employers are about to feel the harsh reality of new industrial relations changes following a series of new applications by Victorian unions to extend the coverage of 130 separate awards across the Victorian workforce.
"The applications stem from changes initiated by the State Government, which have created the potential for comprehensive Federal award coverage to be extended into those areas of the Victorian workforce where Federal awards don't currently apply," says VECCI General Manager – Workplace Relations, Mr David Gregory.
"They provide dramatic evidence of the fact that changes, which have been in the pipeline for some time, are now about to become a reality," he said.
"Victorian employers need to now understand just what these changes are all about, and what impact they are likely to have on their businesses. They then need to begin to plan and deal with the impact of the new system".
The spread of Federal award coverage means that employment conditions such as:
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the 17.5 per cent annual leave loading;
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weekend penalty rates of time and a half and double time for normal rostered work;
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mandatory overtime rates;
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new redundancy benefits;
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personal and other leave conditions; together with
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a comprehensive range of additional employment benefits, are going to be introduced across thousands of Victorian firms and businesses.
These entitlements will override existing workplace arrangements to the extent that they do not match the new award conditions, and they will begin to take effect from 1 January next year.
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a greater proportion of businesses in regional Victoria are currently outside Federal award coverage;
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a large number of regional businesses operate in the service sector and stand to be particularly affected by the additional wage costs associated with weekend and holiday penalty rates and other add-ons.
"The new entitlements have the potential to add real increases to the wages bill of Victorian employers, particularly those trading outside traditional Monday to Friday, 9 - 5 period, as so many now are.
"To assist Victorian employers to prepare for these changes VECCI will be running a series of briefings for businesses in regional Victoria", says Mr Gregory.
For all media enquiries, please contact:
VECCI Strategic Communications
Ph: (03) 8662 5226
email: media@vecci.org.au |
