Reminder for employers - There are a number of key employment figures that will increase from 1 July 2023
Wage Increases
Following the Fair Work Commission’s Annual Wage Review 2023:
the National Minimum Wage will be increased to $882.80 per week or $23.23 per hour; and
there will be a 5.75% increase to minimum award wages.
You can read our previous article about this here: https://www.mckayslaw.com/publications-blog/minium-wage-to-increase
Superannuation
The superannuation guarantee rate will increase from 10.5% to 11%. It will continue to increase by 0.5% on 1 July each year until it reaches 12% in 2025.
Maximum Superannuation Contribution Base
The maximum superannuation contribution base will increase from $60,220 to $62,270 per quarter.
High Income Threshold
The high income threshold will increase from $162,000 to $167,500 per annum.
Employees who earn above the high income threshold are excluded from making an unfair dismissal claim unless a modern award or enterprise agreement applies to them. Such employees can also be excluded from modern award coverage where a “guarantee of annual earnings” is provided by an employer to pay the employee an amount of earnings no less than the high income threshold.
Any employees who have such a guarantee will need to continue to be paid above the high income threshold otherwise there is a risk that a modern award may apply, they may be able to make an unfair dismissal claim and the employer will be found to have breached its undertaking to pay above the high income threshold.
Maximum Compensation Limit
The maximum compensation limit for unfair dismissal claims will increase from $81,000 to $83,750.
Tax Free Amount for Redundancy Payments
The tax free amount for redundancy payments will increase to $11,985 plus $5,994 per year of service.
Filing Fees
The application fee will increase to $83.30. The fee applies to dismissal, general protections, bullying and sexual harassment at work applications made under sections 365, 372, 394, 773 and 789FC of the Fair Work Act 2009.
There is no fee to make an application to deal with a sexual harassment dispute under section 527F of the Fair Work Act 2009.
Please get in touch with our employment and industrial relations team if you have any questions about the changes.