Can I pay over the award for some things and under for others?

No. You can’t pay over the award for some things and under the award for others, even if the employee is agreeable. For example, it’s not okay to skip paying someone their uniform allowance just because you pay them 50 cents an hour over the award — if there’s ever a dispute, you’ll almost certainly have to backpay the uniform allowance for the entire period the employee worked for you, and you won’t get a refund on your 50 cents an hour, either. The only way you can negotiate different conditions from the award is by enterprise bargaining, commonly called a workplace agreement (although the terminology varies from state to state).

In Australia, workplace agreements are up in the air at the moment, what with the death of WorkChoices and the change in government. Although individual agreements (AWAs) have been abolished, collective agreements are still allowed. Regardless of the type of agreement, it still has to pass the ‘no-disadvantage test’ whereby you can prove that this agreement does not disadvantage employees in any way when compared to the award. For example, employees may choose to do away with holiday leave loading in lieu of a higher hourly rate. This higher hourly rate must fully compensate for the lost wages of no leave loading.

Most small business people will you probably have enough on their plate just understanding the award that applies to their workplace, and are probably best to stick with the relevant award for the time being, until the dust settles.

The contents from this page are taken from Making the Most of MYOB Payroll, 2nd edition, by Veechi Curtis, available online for only $19.95

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