Award Interpretation

What is Award Interpretation?

Minimum Pay And Conditions

Award interpretation is the process all Australian businesses need to undertake in order to determine the minimal legal pay rates and conditions for your workforce as determined by Fair Work Australia.

The purpose of Fair Work Australia’s modern award is to provide a safety net for employees based on age, industry and occupation.

The modern award encompasses a range of entitlements including Base wage: the legal minimum remuneration that employees receive for their work within ordinary hours.

Penalties and overtime: the higher rates of pay awarded to employees for working outside ordinary hours. This includes weekends, public holidays, or late nights.

Allowances: compensation to employees for costs incurred due to their job. This often includes a meal allowance, uniform allowance, accommodation allowance and more.

Finding Your Award

Get it Right

The challenge for most Australian business is that, Fair Work Australia has over 122 different awards covering a range of different industries.

For instance, if your business operates as a cafe or restaurant the Hospitality Industry General Award 2010 will apply, but if you run a florist store, the General Retail Industry Award 2010.

If you’re in doubt as to which award your business falls under, RosterElf highly recommends using Fair Work Australia’s “Find My Award” tool below.

Non-Compliance

Big Penalties

Whilst the Fair Work award system in Australia is complex, if you fail to comply or make a mistake, the penalties can be big. Fines of up to $51,000 from Fair Work Australia can apply plus also a huge backpay charge. So it is definitely worth spending the time to get awards in your business compliant.