The State Wage Case is the yearly review conducted by the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission (WAIRC) to set the State Minimum Wage and adjust pay rates in WA awards in the WA state industrial relations system.
State system employers are legally required to provide the pay increases from the State Wage Case to employees who are paid WA award rates and employees who are paid the State Minimum Wage.
If employees are paid rates that are higher than what is required by the relevant WA award (or the State Minimum Wage if they are award free), the employer must ensure that the rates paid to employees do not fall below the new award rates or minimum wage.
When does the State Wage Case pay increase start?
The State Wage Case decision is usually issued by the WAIRC in June each year. The State Wage Order that implements the increase in the State Minimum Wage and WA award rates is relevant from 1 July each year.
However, the exact date that the minimum wage or award rate increase will apply to specific employers and employees is based around the specific businesses’ pay period. A pay period is the period of time for which employees are paid on each pay day – usually this is a week or a fortnight.
Any State Wage Case pay increase takes effect from the beginning of the first pay period that starts on or after 1 July.
This may mean that an employee’s first pay after 1 July may not reflect the State Wage Case increase if the pay period (i.e. the week, fortnight or month for which they are being paid) started before 1 July.
There are some examples of this in the Examples of how pay periods operate section below.
When the State Wage Case decision is issued each year, Wageline updates the WA award summaries and Minimum rates for award free employees information prior to 1 July. Employers and employees can stay up to date and get informed about State Wage Case increases by subscribing to Wageline News or following Wageline on social media.
Examples of how pay periods operate
Show moreExample 1:
Sarah gets paid fortnightly. She is entitled to the State Wage Case increase in award pay rates from the beginning of the first pay period that starts on or after 1 July.
Sarah’s pay period 25 June to 8 July is paid at the old rate for the whole pay period, because that pay period started before 1 July.
Sarah’s next pay period starts on 9 July and that is the first full pay period that starts on or after 1 July. As such, the new award pay rate will apply for Sarah from 9 July.
Example 2:
Ari gets paid fortnightly. They are entitled to the State Wage Case increase in award pay rates from the beginning of the first pay period that starts on or after 1 July.
Ari’s pay period 1 July to 14 July is the first full pay period that starts on or after 1 July. As such, the new pay rate will apply for Ari from 1 July.
Example 3:
Carlos gets paid weekly. He is entitled to the State Wage Case increase in award pay rates from the beginning of the first pay period that starts on or after 1 July.
Carlos’ current pay period is from 27 June to 3 July, and the old rate applies to the whole pay period since the pay period started before 1 July.
Carlos’ next pay period starts on 4 July, and that is the first full pay period that starts on or after 1 July. As such, the new pay rate will apply for Carlos from 4 July.
Example 4:
Nina gets paid monthly. She is entitled to State Wage Case increase to the state minimum wage from the beginning of the first pay period that starts on or after 1 July.
Nina’s pay period 15 June to 14 July is paid at the old rate for the whole pay period, because that pay period started before 1 July.
Nina’s next pay period starts on 15 July and that is the first full pay period that starts on or after 1 July. As such, the new pay rate will apply for Nina from 15 July.
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