Blog

The Australian government has recently overhauled the award system including industrial relations. Modern awards play an integral part in the government’s industrial-relations program. These modern awards take the place of current federal awards and other notional agreements that preserve state awards within the workplace.

The entire process of ‘modern awards creation’ deals with the overhaul of the existing industrial framework and occupation-based awards. The main objective of the program is to simply the present workplace awards system. The new modern awards system has already included flexibility provisions and dispute resolution clauses as well.  This is done in order to provide a clear discretion between an employer and the employee in terms of how the award system is implemented in a certain workplace.

Modern awards cover all employers, employees and apprenticeships in the national workplace system. Modern awards are usually industry-based and apply to employees and employers covered by the award system.

Apprenticeships Australia and the Modern Awards System

Apprentices are employees who are covered under the structured system of ‘on the job’ training with an employer and an ‘off the job’ training program with a skill provider registered under the state’s training authority. Apprenticeships are treated the same as regular employees in relation to the workers’ compensation, superannuation and other work place entitlements.

An apprentice jobs’ wage is set according to a state’s regulations and legislation for apprenticeships. The apprentice is usually paid on a percentage relative to a professional’s rate as set out in the award system. Apprenticeships Australia are usually compensated based on the length of skill training, years of school finished, kind of apprenticeship, the industry itself and the award covering their respective employment fields.

Under the modern awards system, apprentices are not allowed to work overtime hours unless voluntary. Apprentices also are paid under award rates and are not allowed to go for ‘under piece’ work rates. Apprenticeship jobs require a minimum number of work hours every year, and usually take a set period of time to complete.

The modern award system has been overhauled in order to create an equal and fair working environment for apprentices and to increase apprenticeship jobs Australia wide.