Award Interpretation

When building a new company, there are many things to pay attention to. This is the key to ensuring that employees’ salaries are paid correctly. The Fair Work Australia website lists 122 awards, covering the salary and working conditions of Australian workers. Depending on the different jobs that employees are engaged in, any company may receive more than one reward. Award Interpretation is the process of calculating the minimum legal remuneration for working hours within a certain period of time based on the relevant legal agreement (this legal agreement is often referred to as “reward”). The calculation process includes evaluating the basic hourly wage rate, overtime wage rate, fine wage rate and allowances. Base pay refers to the minimum amount of service remuneration an employee receives during normal working hours. Basic salary is used to calculate overtime and other penalty rates.Overtime and penalties refer to extra work paid outside of normal working hours. For example, this includes work on Sundays, public holidays, or evening shifts. Allowances are used to compensate workers for expenses incurred during work or under adverse conditions. General allowances include meal allowance, travel allowance, uniform/clothing allowance and accommodation allowance. The award covers full-time, part-time and temporary workers in all industries in Australia. Rewards may be replaced by enterprise negotiation agreements (EBAs), but the interpretation and application of EBAs can also be referred to as “reward interpretation.” Other common terms for this process include “customized compensation conditions” or “customized compensation rules.”