AUXILIARY UPDATE : 12 january 2018

Auxiliary Firefighters’ Award – State 2016
Clause 18 – Weekend Penalty Rates

Increase in payment for Sunday work from 1 January 2018

You may recall that at the commencement of the Auxiliary Firefighters’ Award – State 2016 not all entitlements (such as penalty rates) were implemented in full. Some of the new entitlements were prescribed to ‘phase in’ over a period of time.

That period of phasing in continues until July 1 2018.

I am happy to report to you that from Monday 1 January 2018, payment for any work performed on a Sunday increases from an additional 50% above the base rate to an additional 75% above the base rate, for all payments for working on a Sunday (unless the Sunday is a public holiday, when clause 26(b) applies).

This is another timely reminder of the recognition and respect that comes from your coverage under an award, your pay rates are no longer written into a  procedure written by your employer, and pay rises are no longer at the whim of the Commissioner of the time.

Given the change at 1 January 2018, we wrote to QFES asking them to verify your Sunday hourly rate had been adjusted, and they have responded informing us that QSS (payroll) have been advised and the January pay you will receive ought to reflect the increase for any Sunday work you performed.

If you identify that you may not have been paid correctly for any Sunday work in January, discuss this with your local management and your regional payroll representatives.

I will write to qfes again in july to ensure that the final phase in of extra penalty payment amount occurs.