Annual Wage Review 2015–16
[2015] FWC 7969
•19 NOVEMBER 2015
[2015] FWC 7969 |
FAIR WORK COMMISSION |
| STATEMENT |
Fair Work Act 2009
s.285—Annual wage reviews to be conducted
Annual Wage Review 2015–16
(C2016/1)
JUSTICE ROSS, PRESIDENT | MELBOURNE, 19 NOVEMBER 2015 |
RESEARCH PROGRAM
[1] On 30 September 2014, the Expert Panel (the Panel) released a Statement on the medium-term research program (program) which outlined research projects to be undertaken to inform future annual wage reviews.
[2] Pursuant to this program, a number of research projects will be completed to inform the Annual Wage Review 2015–16. The remaining research in the program may be considered to inform future annual wage reviews.
[3] Accordingly, the Panel confirms the research program as outlined in Attachment A to this Statement.
[4] Further consultation in relation to the research program, including the contents of the Statistical Report, will be undertaken through the Minimum Wages Research Group.
PRESIDENT
| ATTACHMENT A |
Background
In a Statement on 30 September 2014, the Expert Panel (the Panel) released the medium-term research program. A number of the projects listed in the program will be completed to inform the Annual Wage Review 2015–16.
Statistical Report
This will follow the format of previous Statistical Reports, with the inclusion of some relevant data from the Fair Work Commission’s (Commission) Award Reliance Survey and Australian Workplace Relations Study (AWRS). For the Annual Wage Review 2015–16, the Statistical Report will include data on firms that employ workers on both higher and lower award classifications, as well as information on award-reliant employees and their household type. This was stated in the Annual Wage Review 2014–15 Decision:
“We intend to publish the AWRS information about whether award-reliant employees are the sole, main or secondary income earner in their household by reference to the various household types, including couple households with children under 15, in the statistical report for the 2015–16 Review. This will provide the parties with an opportunity to put submissions about the information and to bring any alternative evidence on the issue.” 1
Research reference list
The Research Reference List, undertaken by staff of the Commission, will be published at the same time as the Statistical Report and will list Australian and international literature, such as working papers, journal articles or other types of published reports, relevant to the minimum wages and modern awards objectives. The report will only encompass relevant literature published in the year to March 2016.
Research reports
A number of research reports are currently underway to inform the Annual Wage Review 2015–16. These include research foreshadowed in the medium-term research program as well as research undertaken by the Commission’s Pay Equity Unit.
An outline of these projects is provided below.
An international comparison of minimum wages and labour market outcomes
This research will provide a quantitative investigation that compares the labour market outcomes of countries similar to Australia with relatively high and low minimum wages. This may be undertaken by comparing particular employment indicators, including for those of low-paid workers. These indicators would include unemployment and underemployment rates, employment to population ratios, labour market transitions (between low paid jobs and unemployment), the minimum wage bite, average earnings and the distribution of earnings for groups that are relatively more likely to be low paid.
Pay equity research
Research undertaken by the Pay Equity Unit (Unit) for its Work Program 2014–15 provides information to inform matters relating to pay equity under the Fair Work Act 2009 including the annual wage review.
The following research will be published on the Pay equity research and AWRS Conference 2015 pages of the Commission’s website prior to February 2016.
AWRS Conference papers
Papers presented at the AWRS Conference on 25 June 2015 will be published as they are finalised by the authors.
Earnings and characteristics of employees by gender and industrial arrangements
This project seeks to address three research questions:
● How do earnings differ by gender?
● What are the characteristics of female and male workers?
● What are the characteristics of firms that employ female and male workers?
The exploration of these questions particularly focuses on variation between employees by method of setting pay (award-reliant employees, employees on over award arrangements and employees on collective agreements).
Low-paid women’s work decisions and pay equity
This project examines how previous work experiences (with a particular focus on engagement in part-time work) and breaks in work continuity (including the type and duration of these) of low-paid women affect pay outcomes in their current job situations.
This project seeks to address the following research questions:
● What are the influences on low-paid women’s decisions about participating in work and the hours they work?
● What effect do these decisions have on their pay and employment outcomes?
● Do any of these decisions vary according to method of setting pay?
Future research
Following consideration of proposals and consultations, the following research projects listed in the medium-term research program will be undertaken to inform future annual wage reviews. The timing of finalisation of research will be dependent on more detailed scoping of the projects.
The youth labour market
An analysis of the characteristics of the youth labour market, including comparisons over time, would be performed for this project. Characteristics would include employment type, hours worked, educational attainment, and industry and occupation of those employed. Differences in unemployment and underemployment between youth who are and who are not full-time students would also be explored. Analysis would be performed using various Australian data sources. A literature review on the causes of youth unemployment may also be included.
The characteristics of the underemployed and unemployed
This project would track the changes over time in the extent of underemployment for those who are employed part-time, and its relation with unemployment. It would compare and analyse the characteristics of persons who are underemployed with persons unemployed, including over time. The characteristics that would be considered include gender, age, student status, location, industry and occupation. For underemployed workers, the characteristics for analysis would also include method of setting pay, hours worked and work schedules. It would seek information on the duration of underemployment and mobility to alternative employment states.
1 [2015] FWCFB 3500 at para. 344.
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