New Deadline for Final Payment – affects 89 Modern Awards

7-Day Final Payment – new provision in 89 Modern Awards

From the 1^st of November 2018, 89 Modern Awards have been updated with provisions that require employers to make final payments within seven days after an employee’s employment ends.

This was decided after the Fair Work Commission’s four yearly review of Modern Awards to prevent ambiguity and payment errors.

What does Final Payment include?

Final payment is the sum of money an employer has to give their employee at the end of their employment.

This may include, but is not limited to:

• Any outstanding wages for hours worked
• Owed allowances, penalty rates
• Redundancy pay
• Accumulated annual leave
• Payment in lieu of notice

How this affects you

This new provision places a strict timeframe on employers. Legally requiring them to make payments within a specified period – even if that happens to fall outside of the pay cycle. As such, business owners need to ensure that they have sufficient cashflow to allow for such situations. It is also important to note that the provision refers to seven calendar days and not seven working days.

For any advice on understanding and implementing these changes, Employsure clients can call us on 1300 651 415 to discuss, or email [email protected].

If you’re not a member of Employsure and you’d like to find out how we can help, book a free meeting with an Employsure representative here.