Increase to minimum wage from 1 November

National increase to Group 2 Award wages
From 1 November 2020

The Fair Work Commission announced earlier this year that there would be an increase to the minimum wage in Australia, coming into effect on three different dates for different groups of industry awards.

The minimum wage has been increased to $753.80 per week or $19.84 per hour, an increase of 1.75%. This constitutes an increase of $13.00 per week, or 35 cents to the hourly rate.

When will your award increase?

Group 1 Awards were updated in July 2020.

Group 2 Awards – from 1 November 2020

Construction
Manufacturing
A range of other industries

The final award group, Group 3, won't be updated until February 2021.

Group 3 Awards – from 1 February 2021

Accommodation and food services
Arts and recreation services
Aviation
Retail
Tourism
For a full list of awards in each group, click here to view the Fair Work website.

Next steps?

Please review your wage arrangements and implement the necessary wage increases to ensure the new minimum wage rates are met for your specific industry award.

Those paying above-award payments should also review their wage arrangements to ensure they are high enough to accommodate the increases in minimum wage.

Alluvia Tip

The updates come into affect after your first full pay run post 1st November 2020.

What does that mean you ask?

It means you don't need to update the change until your next pay run period falls completely in November 2020.
For example, if you pay your staff weekly and their pay run ends today the 1st of November, you won't update their pay rate when you pay them this week, instead you will wait until next week for the pay run week ending the 8th of November 2020.