On 30 May 2019, the Fair Work Commission handed down its decision on the Annual Wage Review, deciding to award an increase to minimum wages of 3%. This will take effect from the first pay period commencing on or after 1 July 2019.
While still higher than advocated for by the NRA, the outcome is nearer our advocated position than the ACTU’s advocated 6% increase. Although noting that the economy had slowed since its heights in early 2018, the Commission nevertheless determined that economic indicators remained strong enough to support such an increase. While lower than the increase awarded in 2017 and 2018, this is still above CPI, and certainly above the group CPI for retail goods, so we may see retail businesses struggling to accommodate this increase.
The NRA was the only retail industry body to advocate on behalf of its members at all stages of the Annual Wage Review process, and with our members’ ongoing support we intend to do so again in the next review.
We are also pleased to announce that revised wage summary documents have been prepared (in record time – 24 hours following the decision being handed down) and have been made available in PDF form on our member portal.
Click here to download the latest wage summaries from our member portal.wag