Salt Industry Award

Salt sites often have mixed operations, so coverage has to be checked against the salt industry definition before payroll is set.

• Coverage includes production, haulage, processing, brine handling, packaging, shipping and related salt work.
• It can also include maintenance of plant, equipment or camp facilities where the employer is principally engaged in the salt industry.
• The manufacturing carve out means workshop and support functions must be tested carefully rather than assumed.

Classification is not just about years of service. It turns on the group the employee is in, the skills they actually use and whether the employer has required work at that level.

• The award uses classification groups for services, production and haulage, processing, and maintenance trades employees.
• Employees are expected to work flexibly within their competence, acquire skills reasonably requested and use required tools and equipment once properly trained.
• Progression depends on both the employee having the applicable skills and being required by the employer to perform work at that level.

Salt operations do not all run on a simple weekday pattern. You need to know whether the employee is a day worker, shiftworker or cycle worker before building the roster.

• Ordinary hours for a full time employee average 38 per week.
• Employees other than shiftworkers generally work ordinary hours between 6.00 am and 6.00 pm Monday to Friday, although the award allows agreement to vary the spread or increase ordinary hours per day.
• Shiftworkers can work ordinary hours on any or all days of the week, and the award also allows cycle work built from working and non working days using the award formula.

Junior, apprentice and salary settings are easy to get wrong on remote or mixed skill sites where several award structures sit side by side.

• Junior employees and apprentices have separate award treatment and should not be loaded into the same pay settings as adult employees.
• The award also contains a dedicated annualised wage arrangements clause.
• If a business uses annual salary arrangements, those arrangements should be checked against the award rather than assumed to cover everything automatically.

On salt sites, payroll often turns on the add ons around the base rate, especially where all purpose allowances, overtime and supervisory duties are involved.

• Allowances must be paid where the entitlement arises and separately identified.
• The industry allowance is expressly all purpose, so it flows into later award calculations where the award requires that result.
• The award also deals separately with first aid, leading hand and overtime meal allowances.

Hosted apprentices and trainees still need the same award analysis as directly engaged workers at the site where the work is being done.

• Group training arrangements are expressly covered when apprentices or trainees are hosted into covered salt operations.
• A labour or training model does not remove the need to classify and pay the work correctly.

PR799280, PR799387, PR799542

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, 19 - Allowances, Schedule B - Summary of Hourly Rates of Pay, Schedule C - Summary of Monetary Allowances, Schedule E - Supported Wage System