All employers working under the Fast-Food Industry Award will see extensive changes in response to the 4 yearly Modern Award review, with changes to be implemented from the 28th of July 2022.
Within these changes the definition of the Fast-Food Industry has been altered to be defined as, ‘any enterprise/activity that takes orders, prepares, and sells to consumers via direct provision or delivery to the consumers location’. Emphasis has been applied to third party entities that contract and deliver fast food on behalf of businesses, stating that they are not covered under the Fast Food Industry Award as they are contracted to conduct a service.
Provisions within the definition defined as:
- Meals, snacks, and beverages that are sold or served in a manner that they are intended for consumption away from the point of sale, should the customer so decide.
- Inclusive of food and beverages sold in food courts, shopping centres or retail complexes.
- Excludes facilities that primarily provide a sit-down service such as cafes, coffee shops, bars and restaurants, which are better served under the Restaurant or Hospitality Industry Award.
Additional adjustments will be made to Annual Leave loading, within clause 22.2 of the amended Award, stating that:
- For the purpose of Annual leave loading, a relevant weekend penalty amount is the rate usually received per hour of a weekend, minus the minimum hourly rate;
- When an employee uses accrued annual leave, loading will be calculated on the employee’s minimum hourly rate; and
- Annual leave loading received by an employee will be determined by the greater of the following:
- 17.5% of the employee’s ordinary hours that would have been worked if not on leave; OR
- The relevant weekend penalty amounts payable to the employee for all ordinary weekend hours they would have worked if not on leave (for the annual leave period taken).
Whilst mentioning these changes it is worth reminding all employers that from the first pay period after the 1st of July 2022, the Fast Food Industry Award (alongside several other industries) will change to reflect the adult minimum wage increase. This will see an increase to the award minimum wage of:
- At least $40 per week for a full-time employee earning under $869.60 per week.
- An increase of 4.6% for a full-time employee earning over $869.60.
- Casual employees paid at the national minimum wage will receive at least $26.73 per hour, inclusive of their 25 percent casual loading.
- Other Award wages, such as trainee, apprentice, and junior will see an increase of some proportion dependent upon individual circumstance.
Alongside these changes, employers need to recalculate super payments to employees, as the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) rate increases to 10.50%, to have been implemented within the first pay period following the 1st of July 2022. Previously there was a $450 eligibility threshold for SG to be paid by an employer, however this has now been removed making all employees eligible and employers responsible in paying this. Employees under the age of 18, who work less than 30 hours are the exception to this rule with no SG required until they go beyond this age or mentioned hours.
Making the following adjustments can be confusing and time consuming, if you require advice or would like assistance within calculating and implementing wage changes, contact Assurance HR Management on 1800 577 515 and we will guide you.
