Pay Rate Update – A 3.75% pay rate increase is effective 1 July 2024. You can download updated pay rates from this blog page using the form below.
The Fair Work Commission has made some important changes to pay rates that will impact employers around the country. In their decision on pay rates, Fair Work have confirmed an increase to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the minimum pay rates as they apply to all awards. The increase applies to the Clerks Private Sector Award from the first full pay period beginning on or from 1 July 2024.
I employ staff under the Clerks Private Sector Award. How do these changes impact me?
Well it’s important that all businesses who employ staff under a Modern Award be across the changes. The penalties for underpayment are significant, not to mention the reputational damage that comes from having your company brand associated with an underpayment scandal.
Employers need to closely monitor pay rate changes because they are changing at least once a year. On 1 July 2024, Clerks Award staff can expect a minimum 3.75% increase.
Ahead of pay rate changes, employers should review their wage arrangements and implement the necessary wage and superannuation increases.
Part of this process involves communicating wage rate increases to staff in writing before they take effect.
Where can I access Clerks Award pay rates?
You can request a copy of the latest Clerks Private Award Pay Rates. We’ll send them straight to your inbox in PDF format.
How does Fairtime help my business manage payroll compliance for Clerks Award staff?
There’s plenty of ways Fairtime can help you.
Our cloud-based timesheet application converts a timesheet into a payslip with one click. Fairtime’s unique ‘pay rate engine’ provides automated Award interpretation. When your staff submit a timesheet, our system reads the hours and tells you what the staff should be paid in keeping with the Clerks Award.
Clients who use Fairtime software need not worry about pay rate changes because we take care of everything. We’ll save you time and effort each pay run manually checking pay rates to produce a payslip.
In addition to our timesheet app, we also provide a full suite of compliance reporting to help your business demonstrate compliance with Modern Awards.
We already have staff filling out timesheets. What’s the difference?
Whilst the timesheets in your typical payroll software are easy to use, they leave the calculation of pay rates up to each employer and do not provide accurate information on how to correctly classify staff according to the Clerks Award in 2024.
Consider this situation. You use Xero to pay staff but you have to enter pay rates manually. First, you must download a copy of the most up to date pay rates after doing some online searches.
Next up, you will have to go into that payroll app or spreadsheet and create pay categories for each pay rate (this can take multiple hours depending on the number of pay rates and number of staff at the company).
Finally, once an employee submits a timesheet, your or your staff will have to cross reference worked hours with a pay rate and assign the correct pay rate to those worked hours. And this exact process needs to be carried out for every staff member, for every timesheet they submit each and every pay run. How time consuming is that!
Even once you have prepared the manual payslip – you are still at risk of underpayment. Most awards contain at least SIX allowances that can apply to your staff at any time on a varying basis. Failing to account for allowances even when pay rates are correct can still lead to underpayment.
Why is Fairtime the best timesheet software for Clerks Award employers?
For an all-in-one integrated timesheet solution that can interpret award changes as soon as they are announced, look no further than Fairtime.
Our Freemium plan lets you try out Fairtime to see if it’s a good fit for your business. Log your first timesheet once you register here.
