employment terms and conditions confusion
 

Hi all

been offered a job in Oz, exciting.
however i have got the job 'enterprise agreement' and not sure what annual leave loading is and also what is salary sacrifice? i presume supers is like pension.
Also i heard there is 4wks annual leave, but say i want to take 3 weeks off to come home i need to have worked 3/4 of the year to earn it?

I have no idea what all these terms mean, if there is a sticky or something please let me know!
ta

Re: employment terms and conditions confusion
 

https://www.fwc.gov.au/awards-and-agreements/agreements
http://www.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au/Page...e_loading.aspx
https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/managi...lary-packaging

just google it

Re: employment terms and conditions confusion
 

yeah thanks i know how to use the interweb.
i was after more personal experience, cheers mate

Re: employment terms and conditions confusion
 

I really suspect that there is no sticky because every firm is different in it's interpretation of the details, so some may make you wait for the 9 months while others, once you are on the payroll, may be much more flexible.

Re: employment terms and conditions confusion
 

Salary sacrifice allows you to pay for things from gross salary, so minimizing tax

Re: employment terms and conditions confusion
 

Salary sacrifice means that you can put money into an account to use for work related transport, computer/ipad purchases, car purchases - details vary depending on the organisation/department (its usually a government thing). The money is used to buy the stuff before tax is taken off your salary, so you are effectively buying that article tax-free. Many places allow salary sacrificing on vechicles, so don't buy one until you have sussed out the situation.
Annual leave loading - again mostly a government thing - you get a certain percentage of your salary (maybe around 12%) paid to you either when you go on leave, or (in our case) once a year at Christmas. Its like a bonus and it accumulates throughout the year. So we get standard fortnightly salary payments, then once a year we get that extra bit (equivalent to about 12% of salary) as well.
Superannuation is indeed your pension scheme

And yes, most places only let you take leave once you have accumulated it, you get so many hours per pay period. The good news is that if you don't use it then it carries over to the next year. Many employers will let you take a certain amount unpaid if you have not accumulated enough in the first year.

Re: employment terms and conditions confusion
 

Salary sacrifice in my government job is for specific things to a maximum of $9k per year. I am sacrificing my mortgage payments (it's one of the few things that are on the list that I would use) but before I had a mortgage I sacrificed my rent.

We can buy annual leave in my department (WA Health) or take leave at half pay so you get 2x the leave. (A few years ago I took 6 weeks off but took 3 weeks' annual leave paid at 50%).

Re: employment terms and conditions confusion
 

Ours has just introduced some kind of scheme for buying leave, though I haven't looked at the details cos I can't afford it!

Don't think we have a limit on salary sacrificing - mortgages and rent are not allowed for us though. They used to let us do electricity bills but that stopped a year or so back. This year's big win was being able to sacrifice bus fares again, thats a big saving for me.

I do remember looking at WA Health a while back and I reckon they had the best I'd come across. QHealth is good, but not that good!

Re: employment terms and conditions confusion
 

Leave will depend on your employer. Some employers you have to 'earn' your annual leave, whereas others (my current being an example) just allocate x4 weeks leave at the beginning of the financial year. If you join after that, then your leave amount is pro-rated.


S

Re: employment terms and conditions confusion
 

is the standard amount of holiday 4 weeks in australia?

Re: employment terms and conditions confusion
 

4 weeks is the minimum. An employer can offer you more if they like, and it's not uncommon for people to bargain more holiday in lieu of extra money.


S

Re: employment terms and conditions confusion
 

As a health dept employee I am entitled to a discounted transit pass as well. It was a scheme a few years ago to help encourage those of us who work in the city to take transit instead of driving. A normal Smart Rider gives a 15% discount on fares but mine gives me 25% off.

We're fortunate here for sure. But it took me a long time to figure a lot of it out. I think the OP would do well to have a chatwith the company's HR department about what he's entitled to and how to access them. It was my tax accountant who told me how to get the most of my pay packet.

Re: employment terms and conditions confusion
 

Very good plan. Took me years to figure out all the ins and outs when I moved over here. It was only when I ended up working with a guru in such things that I got my head round the whole salary sacrificing thing. Haven't yet found a departmental guide that makes it easy!