Aged Care Sector: Increase to Minimum Wages

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Are you currently covered by the Aged Care Award, the Nurses Award, or the Social, Community, Home Care, and Disability Services Industry Award?

If so, this one's for you!

The Fair Work Commission has ordered a 15% interim pay increase to those covered by these Awards. The pay increases are set to be introduced on 30 June 2023 (applying to the employee's first full pay period on this date or thereafter). This final decision was issued on 21 February 2023.

This is great news for workers within the aged care sector! According to the Fair Work Commission, the decision to increase the minimum wage could be easily justified by 'work value reasons.' This decision highlights how aged care workers have been undervalued and acknowledges historical gender-based discrepancies. Considerations are also underway to determine if a 15% increase to the minimum wage is satisfactory.

Now there are some provisions around who is and who isn't entitled to this pay increase. The following employees ARE set to receive the pay increase:

Aged Care Award:

Recreation/ lifestyle activities officers
Personal care workers
Most senior food service employees (those classified as levels 4-7) in particular aged care facilities

Nurses Award:

Home care workers who work in aged care

SCHADS Industry Award:

Nursing assistants
Registered/enrolled nurses
Nurse practitioners working in aged care.

The following employees ARE NOT entitled to the pay increase:

Support and administration workers working in aged care
Chefs and/or cooks who are not the most senior food service employees (even if they are covered by the Aged Care Award)
Those employees not covered by Fair Work

If you're an employee covered under one of these Awards but are unsure if you are entitled to the pay increase (or you haven't heard anything about these changes from your Employer), feel free to reach out to the Employii team!

Employers take note!

Even though employees may currently be receiving an above-award salary or hourly rate, employers will need to ensure that as of 30 June 2023, the impacted employee's rate of pay is no less than what they would be entitled to under the relevant Award.

It can be difficult to calculate all these numbers so don't worry, the Employii team is here to help!

If you're worried and unsure about what you should be paying your employees once the increase is introduced at the end of June, reach out to our team (employii@employii.com.au) and we can advise you on the next steps!

*Subscribe to Employii's monthly newsletter to stay up-to-date with industry updates and the latest news on minimum wage increases within the aged care sector.

To find out more about the increase to minimum wages in the aged care sector, head to the Fair Work website here.

Author: Chelsea Finlay (HR Officer).

Aged Care Sector: Increase to Minimum Wages

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