What does the Queensland 'minimum entitlements' amendment Act do?
The Industrial Relations Act 1999 provides for additional minimum protections which are derived from three sources:
- community standards established by the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) and the AIRC
- common standards in State and Federal awards
- current minimum entitlements in the Queensland Industrial Relations Act 1999
The minimum entitlements legislation has:
- no impact on current State or Federal awards and agreements
- no impact on non-award employees
- no impact on new awards and agreements made or varied after the 1 September 2005 , if they address these entitlements.
Only those employers who choose to make awards and agreements after the Queensland amendments commence, and who do not address them in the agreements made with their employees, will face the cost of the legislated minimum entitlements in the Industrial Relations Act 1999 (PDF, 1.9 MB).
The Act provides the following entitlements based on QIRC standards:
- Casual loading of 23% which reflects the standard established by the QIRC as a general ruling in April 2001.
- Annual leave loading of 17.5% loading on the amount paid for annual leave in line with the test case decision by the QIRC in 1973.
- Shift work loadings of 12.5% of ordinary time wages for an afternoon shift and 15% of ordinary time wages for a night shift reflecting the general ruling by the QIRC. The definition of afternoon shift and night shift will reflect current standards in Queensland awards.
- Redundancy pay standard established by the QIRC in 2003 will be incorporated into the Act together with the continued exemption of small businesses with the equivalent of 15 full-time employees or less.
The Act provides the following entitlements which have been identified from common standards across State and Federal awards:
- Weekend penalty rates of 25% in addition to the ordinary hourly rate for work on Saturday and 50% in addition to the ordinary hourly rate for work on Sunday.
- Ordinary working week will be amended to introduce a 38 hour week for employees covered by awards and agreements made after 1 September 2005.
- Meal breaks will include a minimum unpaid meal break of 30 minutes after 5 hours' work in addition to the existing provision for rest breaks of at least 10 minutes for each 4 hours of working time.
- Notice of termination will be retained under the existing provisions for notice periods by employers to employees. Employees will now be required to give a minimum notice period of one week to employers.
- Jury Service Leave provisions will be incorporated into the Act to provide that employers make up the difference between the worker's ordinary time earnings and the Queensland Government daily allowance for employees on jury service whose:
- awards and agreements are made after the date of commencement and
- where the award or agreement is silent on the matter.
The Act provides for the existing entitlements under the Queensland Industrial Relations Act 1999 (PDF, 1.9 MB) to be extended to employees under Federal awards and agreements:
- Public holiday penalties will be extended to Federal employees who work on a public holiday, when it falls on a day when they are ordinarily required to work, and who will be entitled to ordinary time for the public holiday, plus time and a half for any hours they work, with a minimum four hours pay.
In addition, employees who work outside their ordinary working hours on a public holiday, including casual employees, will be entitled to double time and a half for the hours they work, with a minimum of four hours pay.
- Loadings for working overtime will be amended to extend to Federal workers the current overtime payments for work in excess of ordinary time hours, although modified for a 38 hour week.
Overtime rates will apply to time worked in excess of 6 days in any 7 consecutive day period; 38 hours in any consecutive 6 days; 7.6 hours per day; or before or after ordinary start and finish times.
The rate of overtime is time and a half or double time if more than one shift is worked per day unless awards and agreements provide alternative arrangements.
The Act extends certain minimum protections in the Industrial Relations Act 1999 (PDF, 1.9 MB) to all employees (with only minor exceptions). These minimum conditions relate to processes and rights rather than entitlements and will have no impact on labour costs. They will:
- encourage awards and agreements to provide for classifications and skills-based career paths so that wages will continue to be structured to support skills development and a minimum trade rate is guaranteed to employees completing apprenticeships; and
- ensure that outworkers in all industries receive comparable pay and conditions to workers on awards who perform the same work at the employer's premises.
Further information is available in the factsheet on new laws about minimum entitlements (PDF, 68 KB).
Last updated 21 July 2009
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