I received a call the other day from a client who was fielding a complaint from and employee who was being paid an hourly rate less than other employees who were employed as cleaners at a recreational facilities. The employee stated that if she is doing the same job as the others she should be on the same pay, i.e. “Same Job, Same Pay. I thought it would be an ideal topic for John’s jottings.

Same Job -Same Pay?

I received a call the other day from a client who was fielding a complaint from an employee who was being paid an hourly rate less than other employees who were employed as cleaners at a recreational business.

The employee stated that if she is doing the same job as the others she should be on the same pay, i.e. “Same Job, Same Pay, that bshe had heard on the news, so I thought it would be an ideal topic for John’s Jottings.

The employees of the facility had until recently been employed under what has become known as a Zombie Agreement that was terminated under prevailing legislation in early December 2023. The employees who were covered by the Agreement fell back under the relevant Award however, the employer maintained the higher hourly rate these employees were on, with new employees being paid at the award rate resulting in a differential.

The principle of ‘Same Job, Same Pay’ is focussed on labour hire employers and requires labour hire workers to be paid no less than the ‘protected rate of pay’ which is the rate payable to employees under a relevant workplace instrument such as an enterprise agreement who are directly employed by the host employer undertaking the same work.

In relation to the different hourly rates employees are being paid, it is generally legal to pay employees differently for the same job, as long as the difference in payment is not discriminatory and all employees are paid equivalent to or more than the relevant award requires. 

If you are unsure of how this catch-phrase may impact your business, please email me at john@lambwrc.com.au and I’ll explain what they mean and whether your business needs to take any action to protect itself.