FWA makes first take home pay order
PDF DOWNLOADOn 17 August 2010, Ms Susan Balog made an application under the Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2009 (Cth) for an order remedying an alleged reduction in her take home pay, which resulted from the making of a modern award.
Before 1 January 2010, her employer, fashion retailer Fast Future Brands, had paid Ms Balog a base rate of $19.83 an hour, which rose to $39.66 on a Sunday under the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association - Victorian Shops Interim Award. However, with the introduction of the General Retail Industry Award 2010 9 (Award) Ms Balog’s pay had dropped to $16.47 an hour, or $32.94 with the double time loading on a Sunday. For Ms Balog, who usually worked a three-hour shift on Sundays, this had effectively seen her pay cut by $6.72 an hour.
In an attempt to compensate Ms Balog, her employer had offered to provide her with additional hours to make up for her lower pay. However, in his decision Fair Work Australia Senior Deputy President Kaufman found that this was not an acceptable alternative to a take-home pay order, stating that "the employer, in essence, is seeking that the employee work more hours for less pay.”
The tribunal issued a take-home pay order requiring the employer to:
- back-pay Ms Balog from 1 January this year; and
- pay Ms Balog her old hourly rate (that applied to her on December 31 2009) until either her employment ends or the Award equals or surpasses that rate.
This case represented the first successful application for a ''take home pay order'' since the introduction of the new laws.
Contact details
Melbourne
Charles Power, Partner
T: +61 (0)3 9321 9824
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Sydney
Stephen Trew, Partner
T: +61 (0)2 8083 0439
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Brisbane
Paul Hardman, Partner
T: +61 (0)7 3135 0675
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