real estate

Changes to the Real Estate Industry Award 2010

Important changes to the Award include:

• Classification of employees and an increase of the minimum weekly wage;
• Who is considered a ‘junior employee’;
• Allowances for employees;
• Commission-only employment and the review process;
• Annual leave entitlements for commission-only employees; and
• Entitlements after employment ends.

Employees will now be classified based on an Employee Level ranging between 1 and 4, and their classification will need to reflect their base retainer salary. It is important to understand the types of tasks each employee classification will attract, the level of supervision required for each employee, and the new minimum weekly wage for each level of classification.

Commission-only arrangements

One major change to the Award includes real estate salespeople on commission-only arrangements. The commission percentage payable to commission-only employees has been changed along with the formula for deriving the commission payable to the employee. A review must be conducted every 12 months for commission-only employees, whereby if the recommended threshold amount has not been achieved in any given year, the empGloyee must cease the commission-only arrangement and receive a base salary.

Why is this information important?

It is likely that Consumer Affairs will be conducting audits of agencies in the near future and checking Employment Agreements comply with the new Award. Employment Agreements will need to be updated and amended to reflect the changes to the Award.

For more information or to have your Employment Agreements reviewed and amended, please contact our Commercial Law team.