Attempting to add a little context to the mention of wages during the current federal election campaign.......
According to the Fair Work Ombudsman:
The National Minimum Wage applies to employees not covered by an award or registered agreement. This is the minimum pay rate provided by the Fair Work Act 2009 and is reviewed each year.
As of 1 July 2021 the National Minimum Wage is $20.33 per hour or $772.60 per week.
Employees covered by an award or registered agreement are entitled to the minimum pay rates, including penalty rates and allowances in their award or agreement. These pay rates may be higher than the National Minimum Wage.
The National Minimum Wage is varied for Apprentice and Trainee pay rates, Junior pay rates and Employees with disability pay rates.
The National Minimum Wage is set by the Fair Work Commission. The federal government of the day appoints Fair Work presidents, vice-presidents, deputy presidents and commissioners, of whom there are generally 42 in number. Since December 2018 it has been the Morrison Government making appointments to the Commission and allegations have persisted that it is now an employer dominated agency.
In June 2021 the National Minimum Wage increase represented a rise in remuneration of 2.5% before tax – rising from $19.24 to $20.84 an hour. That increase was a lordly 49 cents per hour worked.
At that time the Australian Attorney-General’s Department estimated that around 180,200 Australian employees (or 1.7% of the paid workforce) were being paid the national minimum wage rate. Though I rather suspect that that figure may have been years out of date when it was presented to the Commission.
Now during its annual wage reviews, the Fair Work Commission receives a number of submissions from government, industry groups, unions and other interested parties.
During the Fair Work Commission Annual Wage Review 2021 the Morrison Government submitted its position on any change to the National Minimum Wage, which took 102 pages to say low or moderate increases are better than larger increases – if increases have to happen at all. Along with a somewhat novel argument from an ordinary citizen’s perspective, that there was no urgent need for a rise in the minimum wage because government supports low income households in other ways and it expects future minimum wage rate increases to be eaten away by government taxes.
This was the same basic approach taken previously by the Morrison Government during the Annual Wage Review 2020 and Annual Wage Review 2019. To which had been added in both those submissions, the argument that previous minimum wages allowed workers sufficient purchasing power. I note that it was in this period that the National Minimum Wage rose by 56 cents an hour in 2019 and by 35 cents an hour in 2020.
The next annual review of the national wage will announce its decision in the months after the 21 May federal general election – sometime in June-July 2022.
I think North Coast Voices readers would be safe in assuming that if re-elected the Morrison Government will be submitting arguments which resist decent National Minimum Wage increases for the next four financial years.
The last quarterly Cost Price Index was issued in December 2021 and showed a 3.5% overall increase - primarily driven by rises in the cost of transport, housing, household goods & services and health. While 2022 sees reports of sharply rising costs ahead of the first quarter Cost Price Index due to be released on 27 April.
There is another issue concerning the National Minimum Wage. It appears that workers in what is known as the “gig economy”, ie., individuals providing services to consumers for a fee via digital platforms or marketplaces, are outside the protection of the National Minimum Wage.
According to the Fair Work Ombudsman; Individuals working in the gig economy often perform work as independent contractors. This means they may have a commercial relationship with the company that hosts the digital platform or the consumers who receive their services.
This month, April 2022, the NSW Legislative Council Select Committee On The Impact Of Technological And Other Change On The Future Of Work And Workers In New South Wales released its first report titled The gig economy.
The report stated in part:
Food delivery workers and rideshare drivers typify the on-demand workforce. These workers' legal status under Commonwealth legislation as 'independent contractors' as opposed to 'employees' means they have few workplace entitlements. While the committee has noted the positive impact of on-demand work on the New South Wales economy, and some benefits that can flow for workers from flexible arrangements, our primary focus has been on the many significant disadvantages attached: the absence of guaranteed minimum wages and working hours, and of paid leave provisions; poor safety standards; and the lack of a fair dispute system in the event of workplace injury.
In short, the cyclist who delivers our Friday night takeaway receives next to none of the conditions long considered fair and decent across Australia. The job itself also puts workers in very real danger of injury, abuse and harassment. Late 2020 was marked by the deaths of no less than five food delivery riders, all while this inquiry was underway. These deaths, and the high potential for further tragedy, underscore the need for immediate action by the NSW Government.
From extensive evidence over eight hearings to date, the committee has concluded that current laws perpetuate the overwhelming power imbalance between lone 'contractors' and multinational platform companies, rather than mitigating it. Correspondingly, we have made four key findings: that New South Wales is falling behind other states and comparable nations in developing laws that establish decent working conditions in the gig economy; that the failure to provide gig workers with a minimum wage, paid leave and other basic workplace entitlements is increasing inequality in New South Wales; that gig workers currently lack the power to interact and negotiate with on-demand platforms as equals in New South Wales; and that the failure to provide gig workers with access to a low-cost independent tribunal empowered to hear and decide disputes is leading to injustice in New South Wales.
This was Leader of the Opposition & MP for Grayndler Anthony Albanese on Twitter, 26 February 2021, concerning the "gig economy":
Every Australian worker deserves the safety net of the Australian minimum wage. That’s the whole point. It’s the bare minimum. The reality is that workers in the gig economy aren’t getting a fair deal. We've got people earning $10 an hour with no sick leave and no security. We can do better. That’s why a Labor Government I lead will extend the powers of the Fair Work Commission to create minimum standards for gig economy workers – such as super, collective bargaining, and unfair dismissal protections. Labor is on your side.
While this was Australian Attorney-General & Minister for Industrial Relations Senator Michaelia Cash on behalf of the Morrison Government, Canberra Times, 1 June 2021:
Industrial Relations Minister Michaelia Cash said she was wary of reforms that could stifle innovation, limit flexible work and raise prices in the gig economy.
Scott Morrison on the subject of the gig economy workforce, The Australian 13 April 2022, p.12:
Mr Morrison says it [size of the gig economy workforce] has changed little in 20 years.
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