Penalty and overtime rates for millions of Australian workers are one step closer to protection enshrined in law, with the Albanese Labor Government set to introduce legislation on its key election commitment next week.
The Bill will protect crucial entitlements for around 2.6 million modern award-reliant workers, many who count on penalty rates to make ends meet.
The legislation inserts a high-level principle into the Fair Work Act that operates alongside the modern awards objective, ensuring penalty rates and overtime can't be rolled up into a single rate of pay where it leaves any individual employee worse off.
Employers in the retail, clerical and banking sectors have made applications to the Fair Work Commission to trade away the penalty rates of lower paid workers from awards, leaving some workers worse off.
The Bill we will introduce next week ensures that in applications like these, no worker sees their pay packet reduced.
Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Amanda Rishworth said the legislation builds on the significant reforms of Labor's first term, and the re-elected Government's submission to secure minimum wage earners a 3.5 per cent pay boost.
"If you rely on the modern award safety net and work weekends, public holidays, early mornings or late nights, you deserve to have your wages protected."
"We want this law passed as a top priority, so workers are protected from the loopholes that see their take-home pay go backwards."
"Enterprise bargaining is the appropriate place to negotiate on entitlements - not eroding the award safety net."
Modern awards provide entitlements such as pay, hours of work, rosters, breaks, allowances, penalty rates and overtime. They form part of the safety net of minimum wages and entitlements for Australia's lowest paid workers.
People who are covered by awards are more likely to be women, work part time, be under 35 and employed on a casual basis.
