Modern awards replaced Pay Scales for most workers from 1 January 2010
From 1 January 2010 modern awards replaced Pay Scales for most employees in the national workplace relations system.
Pay Scales are a type of pre-modern award instrument which set out minimum wage entitlements for particular jobs and classifications. Pay Scales are mostly drawn from the pay rates in pre-modern awards and annual minimum wage decisions made by the former Australian Fair Pay Commission from 2006 to 2009.
Transitional arrangements in most modern awards (the model transitional provisions) mean that the new minimum wage rates in most cases did not commence until the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2010.
These transitional arrangements also provide that the changes to wage rates in modern awards in most cases can be progressively implemented over a four year period by reference to pre-modern award and modern award entitlements.
Under those transitional arrangements minimum wage rates in modern awards (including any increases from Fair Work Australia’s Annual Wage Reviews) apply in full from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2014.
If an employee was previously covered by a Pay Scale and there is no modern award for the work that they do, then the Pay Scale continues to apply (until it is terminated by Fair Work Australia).
Summaries of Pay Scales (Pay Scale summaries) were developed by the Workplace Authority (a former federal statutory body) by reference to particular awards as at 26 March 2006. These summaries included any relevant adjustments to rates of pay made by the former Australian Fair Pay Commission between 2006 and 2008.
You can find a Pay Scale summary by looking under the years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and then alphabetically by title.