Aged Care Employee Wage Increases 30 June to 1 July 2023
Allira Griffiths and Jane McDonald are experienced Chartered Accountants with a strong commercial and care sector background. They are passionate about building commercial capability with and for Aged Care providers to ensure they thrive. They have reviewed and understood what the upcoming wage increases will mean for Aged Care providers and have put together a simple Fact Sheet.
Aged Care Fair Work Decision: Eligible aged care workers will receive a 15% award wage increase from 30 June 2023 (from the first full pay period on or after 30 June 2023). The wage increase applies to workers on the Aged Care Award 2010, Nurses Award 2010 and Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010.
Annual Wage Review: A 5.75% increase will be applied to all minimum award wages from 1 July 2023. This increase also applies to the 3 awards affected by the aged care decision.
This means that for some employees, the minimum wage will change from the first pay period commencing on or after 30 June, and again from the first pay period commencing on or after 1 July.
How will it be funded?
The Government have agreed to fund the 15% Fair Work wage increase, including on-costs and leave liabilities.
Aged care providers will receive additional funding through both existing funding arrangements and new grant opportunities
What does that mean for aged care providers?
Pay rates need to be adjusted to ensure staff are paid in line with the revised minimum pay rates from 30 June.
Providers need to review their pricing models and ensure services pricing is sustainable. This pay increase is likely to require reasonable increases in charges for care and services delivered by workers receiving those wage increases.
Employee leave liabilities will need to be remeasured as at 29 June 2023 to reflect the revised pay rates. For many providers this may also result in an expense being recognised, as the leave liabilities are remeasured based on the increased pay rates.
Ensure all relevant pay increases have been accounted for in your annual budget or forecast.
Ensure that you’ve considered the impact of award increases in your Enterprise Agreements, if you want to maintain your competitive advantage as an employer.
Consider a review of your scheduling practices. Efficient workforce management and scheduling optimisation will become even more crucial post these wage increases.
If you would like to discuss these changes in further detail, or would like help ensuring you meet your obligations and claim your grant entitlements, the experienced Pontem team can work with you to customise a plan to suit your needs.
Specialist services may include:
Service pricing review
Support in preparing grant applications for wages and leave liabilities for employees delivering CHSP services
Review the impact of award increases on your Enterprise Agreements to ensure you remain compliant
Contact us at hello@pontem.com.au for a 20-minute obligation free session to discuss your needs