Legal Update Alert: Changes to the Real Estate Award – Car Allowance and Minimum Pay
O*NO! Are you across the recent changes to the Real Estate Industry Award? Amendments were made to the Award to make certain clauses clearer. The matters of confusion related to employees starting or ending work at location other than the employers business premises. A new clause, 17.11, was added to the award to address excess travelling. These changes came into effect 1st March, so we thought we’d take a closer look at them.
Update: If an employee is required to start or end their work from a location that is not the employers business premises, then any extra time taken to travel there should be counted as part of their regular hours of work.
Example: Agent A usually works at the office, which is about a 10km drive from her house, which takes her 10 minutes. On Thursday, Agent A is asked to start the day by going to see a client. This new location is 25kms from her house, and takes her 25 minutes to drive to. The extra 15 minutes added to her travel counts in her regular work hours.
Update: In addition to the above, if the employee is required to use their own motor vehicle to undertake these excess travel times, then the employee is entitled to be paid the relevant motor vehicle allowance, as per the Award. Excess travel time is any time incurred by the employee when having to travel to start or end their work from a location other than the employers business premises.
Example: Agent A receives a car allowance based on the number of kilometres travelled. Therefore, for the additional distance she covered on Thursday, she is entitled to an allowance calculated for the 15 kms.
What does this mean for your agency?
Employers need to become more mindful of where they are asking their employees to start and finish their work, as this can often become time and cost burdensome. By allowing excess travel times to form part of the employees regular work hours acknowledges that this additional time forms part of the job they are undertaking, and therefore should fairly be compensated for it.
To avoid breaching these new rules, you can:
Establish clear policies regarding work locations and travel requirements. Clearly communicate these policies to employees to avoid misunderstandings.
Clearly address travel requirements in your employment agreements.
Maintain accurate records of employees' work hours, including any travel time to locations other than the usual business premises. This helps in calculating employee entitlements for excess travel time.
Regularly review and assess employees' work arrangements, including travel requirements. Ensure that any changes in work locations or travel expectations are communicated and documented appropriately.
Conduct regular compliance checks to ensure that employees are receiving the appropriate allowances or compensation for excess travel time.
Your Next Steps
Need help getting your employment agreements and policies up to date? At O*NO legal we help agencies like yours future-proof their employment arrangements, ensure compliance with the law, and protect their interests.
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Boring legal stuff: This article is general information only and cannot be regarded as legal, financial or accounting advice as it does not take into account your personal circumstances. For tailored advice, please contact us. PS - congratulations if you have read this far, you must love legal disclaimers or are a sucker for punishment.