WAGES – AUSTRALIA

Which industries can expect pay rise in 2019

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 11-Jan-19

Information and communications technology is one of just three areas that 1st Executive director Andrew Thoseby says people wanting to change career paths to get a pay rise should switch to. He says the other two areas are insolvency accounting and sales. Executive headhunter Kylie Hammond is advising job applicants to seek out industries she describes as "recession-proof", including aged-care and health. Touchstone Executive Search MD Chris Kliengbeil does not expect much growth in fixed remuneration in the fast-moving consumer goods and retail sector in 2019.

CORPORATES
1ST EXECUTIVE PTY LTD, TOUCHSTONE EXECUTIVE SEARCH

ABC underpaid 2500 casual staff

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 11-Jan-19

The ABC will undertake a review into how it came to underpay around 2,500 casual employees over the last six years. The public broadcaster’s chief people officer Rebekah Donaldson says it has notified the Fair Work Commission about the issue, and that it is getting in contact with current and former casual employees who might have been affected. The underpayment error was brought to the ABC’s attention by the Community & Public Sector Union; the CPSU’s ABC section secretary Sinddy Ealy says it had been concerned for some time about the ABC’s over-reliance on and payment of casual staff.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, ACTU

Private sector wage rises hit two-year high

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 21-Dec-18

The federal government has released data showing that there was an average pay rise of three per cent for new enterprise agreements struck in the private sector during the September quarter. However, the average pay rise for existing private-sector agreements was just 2.7 per cent. The number of private-sector workers who are covered by enterprise agreements fell by 90,000 during the quarter. Meanwhile, the average pay rise for public sector workers was 3.4 per cent in the quarter.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, ACTU

Slower wages growth pushes out RBA hike

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 18-Dec-18

The May 2018 Budget had forecast wages growth of 2.75 per cent in 2018-19, but this has been pared back to 2.5 per cent in the mid-year budget update. Wages are also expected to increase by three per cent in 2019-20, compared with previous expectations of 3.25 per cent growth. Meanwhile, growth in household consumption is also expected to be lower than projected in 2018-19, while the unemployment rate is tipped to fall further than forecast. The lower wages growth outlook may affect the timing of any change in monetary policy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Upbeat RBA welcomes higher wages

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Original article by William McInnes, Tim Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 5-Dec-18

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe notes that the outlook for the labour market is positive and the unemployment rate likely to fall further. In a statement accompanying the central bank’s monetary policy decision, Lowe also welcomed signs of wages growth. The RBA left official interest rates on hold at 1.5 per cent for a record 28th month on 4 December, and Sally Auld of JP Morgan says the timing of a rate rise will depend on the outlook for wages. The consensus of economists polled by Bloomberg is that the cash rate will remain unchanged until at least the December 2019 quarter.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BLOOMBERG LP, BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED

Eslake warns on wage crisis ramifications

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Original article by Anna Patty
The Age – Page: 33 : 29-Nov-18

Australian economist Saul Eslake says the business sector’s push for economic reform is being undermined by the low growth in wages. Eslake argues that the general public is becoming less receptive to reforms such as free trade, deregulation and company tax cuts in an era of sluggish wage growth. Eslake has contributed to a new book titled "The Wages Crisis in Australia". Its editors have argued the case for changes to the Fair Work Act, including expanding the definition of an "employee" to include anyone who provides labour and allowing enterprise bargaining at industry level.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

‘Human error’: News Corp salaries, redundancy entitlements emailed to staff

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Original article by Michael Evans
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 29-Nov-18

News Corp Australia has blamed human error for the leaking of confidential salary information. More than 150 News Corp staffers were inadvertently sent an email which outlined the salary packages and redundancy entitlements of several senior employees of the media group. News Corp later issued a statement advising that three of the employees named in the email are leaving or have left the media group; it also said that one of those named "remains a respected member of the team".

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Independent umpire pays the penalty

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Weekend Australian – Page: 18 : 17-Nov-18

Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia CEO Peter Strong says changes to Sunday and public holiday penalty rates do not seem to have led to more jobs or more hours for existing workers. However, he claims that this is due to increases in the minimum wage that have essentially offset the impact of the cuts, rather than because businesses are retaining the savings that have resulted from the cuts. Meanwhile, Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says Labor’s proposed bill to prevent the Fair Work Commission from reducing the take-home pay of any worker is "obviously unfair to employers".

CORPORATES
COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, UNITED VOICE

Wage growth hits a 3-year high

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Original article by David Scutt
Business Insider Australia – Page: Online : 15-Nov-18

Wage price index data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that wages increased by 0.62 per cent in the September quarter and 2.29 per cent year-on-year. The figures also show that real wage growth was 0.4% in the year to September. Meanwhile, public sector wages increased by an average of 2.47 per cent year-on-year, compared with wages growth of just 2.14 per cent in the private sector. The ABS notes that the 3.5 per cent increase in the minimum wage that took effect in July contributed to wages growth in the September quarter.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, INDEED INCORPORATED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Wages data crucial factor for RBA interest rates decision

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Original article by John Kehoe, Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 14-Nov-18

The general consensus of economists is for annual wage price index growth of 2.3 per cent when official data for the September quarter is released on 14 November. Paul Bloxham of HSBC says the Reserve Bank could potentially increase the cash rate sooner than expected if WPI growth is stronger than expected. HSBC forecasts that the cash rate will be increased in mid-2019, although financial markets generally do not expect a rate rise until at least November.

CORPORATES
HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION