2019 Wage Adjustment The Fair Work Commission has granted award-reliant workers a 3% increase, lifting the national minimum wage by $21.60 a week or 57 cents an hour in this year’s annual wage review ruling.

2019 Wage Adjustment

The Fair Work Commission has granted award-reliant workers a 3% increase, lifting the national minimum wage by $21.60 a week or 57 cents an hour in this year’s annual wage review ruling.

The new weekly minimum wage will be $740.80 or $19.49 an hour from July 1 2019.

As part of its campaign for a “living wage”, the ACTU had argued for a 6% increase this year, or $43 a week, followed by a 5.5% increase next year in order to take the minimum wage up to 60% of median earnings while the C10 trades rate would this year rise by $50.24 a week to $887.64. .

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry called for the panel to order no more than a 1.8% increase, while the Ai Group sought a 2% rise.

This year’s decision came against the backdrop of Labor’s failure to win government in the recent Federal election, spiking its plan to amend the Fair Work Act to allow the FWC to determine a “living wage”, taking into account the “social wage” of income and family tax benefits and other transfers.

The minimum wage panel last year increased all award rates by 3.5%, lifting the federal minimum wage to $719.20 a week or $18.93 an hour.