Labour Market Assistance Industry Award

Coverage depends on the service model and funding context, not just the fact that the business operates in the welfare sector.

• Check that the service fits the labour market assistance industry definition in clause 4.2.
• Do not use this award where the Supported Employment Services Award 2010 covers the employer and employees.
• Apply the most appropriate award classification test where mixed duties or a different occupational award may be in play.

This award has four engagement models and each one changes how the employee should be documented and paid from day one. Treat them as different categories, not labels.

• At engagement, specify duties, regular hours, classification and the nature of engagement for each new employee except casuals.
• Choose deliberately between full-time, part-time, casual and sessional engagement.
• Casual work is restricted to intermittent or unexpected work and carries its own minimum engagement and penalty interaction rules.
• Sessional employees have separate payment rules for teaching preparation and associated non teaching tasks.

Flexible hours are allowed, but the award expects them to be organised through written systems rather than informal manager discretion.

• Ordinary hours average across the work cycle, with a daily cap built into the award.
• The default ordinary spread is Monday to Friday within the award span unless the employee is engaged and paid under the penalty rate structure for ordinary hours.
• Accrued day off arrangements require a written roster with notice, and flexitime requires a signed agreement kept with wage and time records.

Allowance compliance matters because client service, travel and excursions often create costs outside ordinary pay that the award expressly addresses.

• Pay and separately identify allowances the employee is entitled to under the award.
• Check first aid, overnight excursion, meal and vehicle related entitlements whenever those events occur.
• Where an employee uses their own vehicle or incurs extra registration or insurance costs because of work use, reimbursement issues should be considered under the expense clauses.

Classification should follow the real mix of administration, office management, training and placement support work being done.

• Administrative assistant and Administrative officer have different levels of responsibility and financial or supervisory content.
• Employment services officer work is different again and focuses on training or placement support.
• Do not park client facing employment services work in an administrative classification simply because the role also involves records or office systems.

Several practical employment issues sit at the intersection of the award and the NES, so internal forms and templates should reflect both.

• Flexible work requests are handled through the NES, and the award dispute procedure can overlap with statutory dispute processes.
• An individual flexibility arrangement is possible only within the award's limited subjects and only if the employee is better off overall.
• Casual conversion is also handled through the NES pathway rather than an informal workplace practice.

PR799280, PR799379, PR799534

The current consolidated award incorporates these recent variation determinations. Use the consolidated wording when checking any affected clause, schedule, rate or allowance.

Affected: 16 - Minimum rates, 18 - Allowances, Schedule B - Summary of Hourly Rates of Pay, Schedule C - Summary of Monetary Allowances, Schedule D - Supported Wage System