The South Australian Business Chamber says a 5.2% per cent increase to the national minimum wage and 4.6 per cent increase to the modern award rate is another blow for many South Australian business owners.
South Australian business owners are facing a perfect storm of rising costs with inflation, interest rates, energy and petrol costs. This will mean further increases to the consumer and potentially job losses.
While a delay to the increase for the aviation, tourism and hospitality awards to 1 October is welcomed, it does mean they will have two wage rises in a single calendar year to deal with.
The South Australian Business Chamber Director of Policy and Advocacy Kendall Crowe says that businesses have borne the financial brunt of the pandemic and it does not look like there is relief in sight.
“In South Australia, there are nearly 12,000 workers on the National Minimum Wage and 174,000 award-reliant employees that are impacted by these increases today. These increases will cost the South Australian business community an additional $518m.”
“The wage increase awarded by the Fair Work Commission today is too much amid current economic pressures and uncertainty,” Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar said.
The South Australian Business Chamber will hold a free webinar next fortnight to help businesses across South Australia understand and prepare for the Annual Wage Review decision featuring practical advice from the South Australian Business Chamber’s expert Industrial Relations consultants.
The South Australian Business Chamber’s Annual Wage Review Webinar will be held on Wednesday 29 June from 10:30am-12:00pm. Register free here >
