Trends In Federal Enterprise Bargaining
December quarter 2016
Table 1: Average Annualised Wage Increases for agreements approved in the December quarter 2016 which contained quantifiable wage increases (1 016 agreements)
Enterprise agreements approved in the quarter. / SeptemberQuarter 2016
(%) / December
Quarter 2016
(%) / Change
(% Points) /
All sectors / 3.3 / 3.1 / -0.2
Private sector / 3.4 / 3.0 / -0.4
Public sector / 3.0 / 3.2 / 0.2
Table 2: Average Annualised Wage Increases for agreements current on 31December 2016 which contained quantifiable wage increases (9 927 agreements)
.All current enterprise agreements / SeptemberQuarter 2016
(%) / December
Quarter 2016
(%) / Change
(% Points) /
All sectors / 3.2 / 3.2 / 0.0
Private sector / 3.2 / 3.1 / -0.1
Public sector / 3.2 / 3.2 / 0.0
Table of Contents
Table 1: Average Annualised Wage Increases for agreements approved in the December quarter 2016 1
Table 2: Average Annualised Wage Increases for agreements current on 31December 2016 1
Table 3: Agreements approved in the quarter, by sector 13
Table 4: Agreements current on the last day of the quarter, by sector 14
Table 5: Agreements approved in the quarter by agreement type 15
Table 6: Agreements current on the last day of the quarter, by agreement type 16
Table 7: Agreements approved in the quarter, by ANZSIC Division 18
Table 8: Agreements current on the last day of the quarter, by ANZSIC Division 21
Table 9: Agreements, by ANZSIC Division, expiring by quarter 24
Table 10: Agreements approved in the quarter, by state 27
Table 11: Agreements current on the last day of the quarter, by state 29
Table 12: Agreements approved in the quarter – non-quantifiable wage increases, by reason 31
Table 13: Agreements approved in the quarter, by union coverage 34
Table 14: Agreements current on the last day of the quarter, by union coverage 35
Table 15: Agreements approved in the December quarter 2016, covering 2000 employees or more 36
Table 16: Agreements approved in the quarter, by state and ANZSIC Division 38
Table 17: Agreements current on the last day of the quarter, by state and ANZSIC Division 41
Trends Technical Notes 44
Further Information
Trends in Federal Enterprise Bargaining is available online at:
http://employment.gov.au/trends-federal-enterprise-bargaining
The Department recommends that Trends in Federal Enterprise Bargaining data be read in conjunction with the Technical Notes (appended to this document), which describe the calculation methodology for the calculation of the data and provide a guide to interpreting data tables.
For other queries, please contact
Disclaimer
The Commonwealth, its employees, officers and agents do not accept any liability for any action taken in reliance upon or based on or in connection with this document. To the extent legally possible, the Commonwealth, its employees, officers and agents disclaim all liability arising by reason of breach of any duty (including liability for negligence and negligent misstatement) or as a result of any errors or omissions contained in this document.
© 2017 Commonwealth of Australia.
TRENDS IN ENTERPRISE BARGAINING REPORTDECEMBER QUARTER, 2016SUMMARY
Overall wages growth under federal enterprise agreements – December quarter 2016 (Tables 1 and 2 of the Trends report)
· The average annualised wage increase (AAWI) for federal enterprise agreements approved in the December quarter 2016 was 3.1 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent* in the September quarter 2016 and up from 3.0per cent in the December quarter 2015 – see Note 1 at the end of this summary.
· The 3.1 per cent AAWI result is based on the 74.8 per cent of agreements approved in the December quarter 2016, covering 61.8percent of employees, which contained quantifiable wage increases – see Non-quantifiable agreements section and Note 2 at the end of this Summary.
· There were 472 construction agreements approved in the December quarter 2016 with an AAWI averaged at 5.2per cent, down from 825 in the September quarter with average wage increases of 5.9 per cent.
· The non-construction AAWI in the December quarter 2016 rose from 2.8per cent in the September quarter to 3.0per cent.
* Due to a small revision to the September quarter data, the September quarter AAWI for approved agreements has been revised from 3.4 per cent to 3.3per cent. (Notes No. 1)
Federal Enterprise Agreements – Proportion of Australian labour market covered
Federal enterprise agreements covered 32.6 per cent of all employees as at May 2014 – see Note3 at the end of this summary for more details. In total, federal and state enterprise agreements cover 41.1per cent of all Australian employees in May 2014.
Comparison of AAWI, ABS Wage Price Index (WPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI)
CHART 1: AAWI in approved agreements, per cent change in ABS Wage Price Index (WPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) – December quarter 2013 to December quarter 2016
Sources: Workplace Agreements Database, Department of Employment; Australian Bureau of Statistics Wage Price Index, Australia, Cat. No. 6345.0 – December 2016; Australian Bureau of Statistics - Consumer Price Index, Australia, Cat. No. 6401.0 – December 2016.
· The gap shown in Chart 1 (above) between the AAWI and WPI needs to be interpreted with caution. The WPI measures the growth in wages for the whole economy at a point in time while the AAWI measures wage growth over the life of agreements.
AAWI - agreements approved in the December quarter 2016 and agreements current as at 31 December 2016 (Tables 3 and 4 of the Trends report)
CHART 2: Approved and current agreements AAWI – December quarter 2013 to December quarter 2016
Source: Workplace Agreements Database, Department of Employment.
· Chart 2 (above) shows that the AAWI for current agreements (neither expired nor terminated) was 3.2 per cent as at 31 December 2016, unchanged from the wage increase as at 30September 2016. There were 14,681 agreements current as at 31 December 2016 of which 9,927contained quantifiable wage increases.
· Of the 1,359 agreements approved in the December quarter 2016, 1,016 contained quantifiable wage increases. The AAWI for these agreements was 3.1 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent in the September quarter 2016.
Private sector wages growth – December quarter 2016 (Table 3 and 7 of the Trends report)
· Chart 3 (overleaf) shows the quarterly AAWI for private sector agreements approved over the last three years. The AAWI for private sector agreements current as at the end of each quarter is also provided.
· The AAWI for private sector enterprise agreements approved in the December quarter 2016 was 3.0 per cent, down from 3.4 per cent increase in the September quarter 2016 and up from 2.9 per cent increase in the December quarter 2015.
· The Construction industry (5.2 per cent), Rental, Hiring, Real Estate Services (3.7per cent) and Health Care and Social Assistance (3.5 per cent) had the highest AAWIs in the December quarter 2016:
· The industries with the lowest AAWI were Information Media and Telecommunications (2.0per cent), Public Administration and Safety (2.2percent), Administrative and Support Services (2.3per cent) and Mining (2.3percent).
· Large quantifiable private sector agreements approved in the December quarter 2016 include:
o Hospitality Sector WA United Voice - Crown Perth Enterprise Agreement 2016 – 3,396employees (2.3 per cent AAWI).
o Neighbourhood Houses and Adult Community Education Centres Collective Agreement 2016 – 2,487 employees (3.7 per cent AAWI).
o NSW Government Cleaning Contractors Multi Enterprise Agreement 2016 – 2,300employees (1.8 per cent AAWI).
o BWA Group Services Pty Ltd Bankwest Enterprise Agreement 2016 – 2,280employees (3.0 per cent AAWI).
CHART 3: Private Sector AAWI – Approved and current agreements – December 2013 to December 2016
Source: Workplace Agreements Database, Department of Employment.
Public sector wages growth – December quarter 2016 (Table 3 of the Trends report)
· The AAWI for public sector agreements approved in the December quarter 2016 was 3.2per cent, up from 3.0 per cent in the September quarter 2016 and unchanged from 3.2 per cent in the December quarter 2015.
· Large quantifiable public sector agreements approved in the December quarter 2016 include:
o Nurses and Midwives (Victorian Public Sector) (Single Interest Employers) Enterprise Agreement 2016-2020 – 53,507 employees (3.6 per cent AAWI).
o ABC Enterprise Agreement 2016 – 2019 – 4,882employees (2.0percent AAWI).
o Department of the Environment and Energy Enterprise Agreement 2016–2019 – 2,734 employees (2.0 per cent AAWI).
o Australian Electoral Commission Enterprise Agreement 2016-2019 – 2,184 employees (2.0 per cent AAWI).
State/Territories wages growth – December quarter 2016 (Table 10 of the Trends report)
· AAWIs for agreements approved in the December quarter 2016 are highest in Victorian agreements at 3.6 per cent and lowest in ACT agreements at 2.3 per cent.
Wages growth for agreements that cover union/s and agreements with no union/s covered – December quarter 2016 (Table 13 of the Trends report) - see Note 4.
· Agreements approved in the December quarter 2016 that formally covered unions have a combined AAWI of 3.1 per cent whereas those with no unions formally covered have an AAWI of 2.5 per cent.
Level of agreement making – as at 31 December 2016 (Table 4 of the Trends report)
· There were 14,681 agreements current (not yet expired or terminated) as at 31December 2016, covering around 2.1 million employees. This is up by 382agreements from the 14,299agreements, covering around 2.0 million employees that were current as at 30September 2016 – see Chart 4 (below) for further details.
· The volume of new agreements approved in the December quarter 2016 at 1,359 is below the quarterly average of 1,616 since the commencement of the Fair Work Act 2009.
CHART 4: Current agreements and employee coverage – December 2013 to December2016
Source: Workplace Agreements Database, Department of Employment.
Non-quantifiable agreements – December quarter 2016 (Table 12 of the Trends report)
· 25.2 per cent of agreements approved in the December quarter 2016, covering 38.2percent of employees, do not contain quantifiable wage increases, and thus are not part of the AAWI calculations.
· The Trends Technical Notes explain the reasons an agreement might not be quantifiable.
· Chart 5 (overleaf) demonstrates that the percentage of employees covered by non-quantifiable agreements is more volatile than the proportion of agreements that are non-quantifiable.
CHART 5: Proportion of approved agreements that are non-quantifiable and employees covered, December quarter 2013 – December quarter 2016
· Six of the fourteen agreements that cover more than 2,000 employees in the December quarter 2016 were not quantifiable.
o Victorian Public Health Sector (Health and Allied Services, Managers and Administrative Workers) Single Interest Enterprise Agreement 2016-2020 – 35,265employees.
§ This agreement contains wage increases that vary from 3 per cent to 5 per cent per annum, and a $1,561 one-off lump sum payment upon the commencement of the agreement which represents a variable percentage for the different salary points.
o Commonwealth Bank Group Enterprise Agreement 2016 – 27,561employees.
§ Pay increases vary between employee groups. Employees will receive either a 3per cent increase, subject to meeting minimum standards, or an increase negotiated under individual agreements provided for in the agreement.
o Australian Services Union (Qantas Airways Limited) Agreement 11 – 4,659employees.
§ Most employees will receive wage increases of 1.5 per cent (1January 2018), 3per cent (1 July 2018) and 3 per cent (1 July 2019) but senior professionals receive 1.5 per cent increase plus performance based annual salary adjustments.
o Epworth HealthCare Nurses Enterprise Agreement 2016 – 2020 – 3,235employees.
§ Wage increases vary between classifications and occupations. The average wage increases are estimated ranging from 2.7 per cent to 5.2per cent per annum.
o Ramsay Health Care Victoria Nurses and Midwives Enterprise Agreement 2016-2020 – 2,840 employees.
§ Wage increases are inconsistent between classifications. The average wage increases are estimated ranging from 2.1 per cent to 4.0 per cent per annum.
o St John of God Health Care Inc. (Victoria) Nurses Enterprise Agreement 2016 – 2,124employees.
§ Wage increases are inconsistent between classifications and occupations. The average wage increases are estimated ranging from 2.8per cent to 8.4 per cent per annum.
NOTES
1. All estimates are rounded and are subject to revision. Revisions have been made to historical series. AAWI data include only increases to the base rate of pay and do not take into account allowances and bonus payments that are paid separately from the base wage.
2. For the December quarter 2016, the calculated wage increase of 3.1 per cent is based on 1,016agreements, covering 152,200 employees (that is, 74.8 per cent of the 1,359agreements approved in the quarter, and covering 61.8 per cent of the total of 246,400 employees).
· A total of 343 agreements, covering 94,200 employees (that is, 25.2 per cent of the 1,359agreements approved in the quarter, covering 38.2 per cent of the total of 246,400employees) have across-the-board wage increases that could not be quantified because, for example, different increases were given to different classifications, increases were based on individual performance or future Fair Work Commission’s minimum wage increase decisions or lump sum payments that translate to different increases for different classifications. Refer to Table 12 in the Trends report for related data.
3. Context for the Trends in Enterprise Agreements data on wages growth in federally registered enterprise agreements:
· About one-third of all employees in the Australian labour market (as measured by the ABS 2014 Employee Earnings and Hours (EEH) survey) are covered by federal enterprise agreements.
TABLE 1: Instrument providing rate of pay for all employees 2010-2014
Instrument providing rate of pay / 2010(%) / 2012
(%) / 2014
(%) /
Award / 15.2 / 16.1 / 18.8
Collective Agreement (Federally Registered) / 31.5 / 32.0 / 32.6
Collective Agreement (State Registered) / 11.9 / 9.8 / 8.6
Collective Agreement (Unregistered) / 0.1 / 0.2 / 0.2
Individual Agreement (Registered and unregistered) / 37.3 / 38.7 / 36.4
Owner/managers of incorporated enterprises / 4.1 / 3.3 / 3.4
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Employee Earnings and Hours, Cat. No. 6306.0 (May 2010, May 2012, May 2014). Please note that this is not intended to be analysed as a time series.