Telecommunications Services Award [MA000041]

The article provides guidelines about when to use the different work types and tags included as part of the pre-built award packages. To read further information about the Telecommunications Services Award, refer to the following article.

Key updates

  Select the current financial year tab to see award updates for the 2022/23 financial year, while all previous updates before this time you can find in the historical financial years tab.

Current financial year

August 2023

1st

From 1 August, all employees are entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year. The (Unpaid) Family and Domestic Violence Leave configuration settings under awards have been updated - the leave category is disabled from award leave allowance templates, and the work type is not enabled automatically for all employees. Please ensure that employees no longer use the unpaid leave category or work type.

July 2023

1st

We have updated the award to reflect the Fair Work Commission’s National Minimum Wage increase detailed in the Annual Wage Review 2022-23 decision and also includes updates to expense-related allowances. You can find information on the Determinations here and here.

These changes come into effect from the first full pay period on or after the 1st July 2023. Please install these updates after you have finalised your last pay run before the first full pay period beginning on or after the 1st July 2023.

Historical financial years

April 2023

5th

We have updated the Telecommunications Services Award Permanent pay condition rule set to reflect a new enhancement which will calculate the higher of annual leave loading or penalties based on the entire leave period, aligning with the Fair Work calculation.

January 2023

31st

We have updated the award to reflect changes made as part of the Fair Work Decision regarding Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave. You can find further information on what changes we applied to the platform and what you should be aware of within this article. We have created the following new categories:

• New Leave Category: Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave.
• New Pay Category: Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave.
• New Work Type: Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave taken.

We have updated the Leave Allowance Templates to disable the existing unpaid Family and Domestic Violence and we have enabled the new Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave. We also updated any impacted rule conditions.

As part of Fair Work's ruling, an employee must be paid their full pay rate; this includes their base rate plus any incentive-based payments and bonuses, loadings, monetary allowances, overtime or penalty rates, and any other separately identifiable amount.

July 2022

We have updated the award to reflect the Fair Work Commission’s National Minimum Wage increase detailed in the Annual Wage Review 2021-22 decision and also includes updates to expense-related allowances. You can find information on the Determinations here and here. These changes come into effect from the first full pay period on or after 1st July 2022. Please instal these updates after you have finalised your last pay run before the first full pay period beginning on or after the 1st July 2022.

Installing the pre-built award package

To read details on how to instal and configure this Pre-built Award Template, please review the detailed help article. While we make every effort to provide a high-quality service, we do not accept responsibility for, guarantee, or warrant the accuracy, completeness, or up-to-date nature of the service. Before relying on the information, users should carefully evaluate its accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance for their purposes, and should obtain any appropriate professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances.

Coverage

This industry award covers employers throughout Australia engaged in the telecommunications services industry and their employees in the classifications listed in Schedule A—Classification Structure and Definitions to the exclusion of any other modern award. For further details and any exclusions, please see clause four of the award.

Additional configuration notes for this award

Meal Break Length

Under this award, you are allowed a meal between 30 and 60 minutes. For the automated meal break and the automation of Clause 14.3 - Delayed Meal Break penalty, we will assume all breaks to be 30 minutes in length. Should the business operate with a longer break time, customisation of the rulesets is required.

Clauses Within the Award That are Unable to be Automated We are unable to automate some clauses within this award due to platform limitations. If any of the following clauses need to actioning within your business, you will need to take manual intervention. Minimum Engagement for Multiple Call Backs in One Day (Clause 20.7c and 20.8d)Minimum Break Between Shifts Does Not Apply for Call Backs of Less Than three hours (Clause 20.5b, 20.7e and 20.8e) Under Clause 20.5, where a Full Time employee works so much overtime that the employee will not have had at least ten consecutive hours off duty between the end of the employee’s ordinary hours of work on one day and the start of the employee’s ordinary hours of work on the next day. They are entitled to the penalty payments listed in Clause 20.5b. However, this penalty payment does not apply in instances where the overtime worked was due to a Call back of less than three hours. The platform is unable to ignore the application of this penalty in a scenario where ten hours of rest did not occur due to a call back of less than three hours. Manual intervention is required in this scenario.

Work types

Work types are a description of the kind of shift you are working on, and you would select them when you record a timesheet. The following is a list of work types employees can select on their timesheet, and the meaning of each item.

Annual Leave Taken

Choose this work type when annual leave is taken.

Compassionate Leave Taken

Choose this work type when compassionate leave is taken.

Delayed Meal Break

Choose this work type when an employee is directed to work in excess of five hours without a meal break and a delayed meal break penalty of 30 minutes is required to be paid.

Family and Domestic Violence Leave Taken

Choose this work type when family and domestic violence leave is taken.

First Aid Allowance

Choose this work type if the employee is appointed to perform first aid duty for the shift worked.

Leave Without Pay Taken

Choose this work type when unpaid leave is taken.

Long Service Leave Taken

Choose this work type when long service leave is taken.

Overtime Meal Allowance

Choose this work type when a Meal Allowance is payable.

Meal Allowance While Travelling

Choose this work type when a Meal Allowance while travelling is payable.

Paid Community Service Leave Taken

Choose this work type when community service leave is taken.

Personal/Carer's Leave Taken

Choose this work type when personal or carer's leave is taken and the business accrues the leave in hours.

Public Holiday Not Worked

Choose this work type when an employee is not required to work on a gazetted public holiday but otherwise would have worked on this day.

Recalled to Work

Choose this work type when an employee is recalled to work overtime after leaving work.

Remote Service/Support(Technical Stream)

Choose this work type when an employee is required to work overtime providing service or support over the telephone or via remote access arrangements. This condition is only applicable to those classified under the Technical Stream.

Stand-By Allowance

Choose this work type when an employee is required to stand-by between normal finishing and starting time.

Time in Lieu Taken

Choose this work type when time in lieu is taken.

Time in Lieu of Overtime

Choose this work type when the employee elects to accrue time in lieu rather than an overtime payment.

Travel Time Allowance – Sleeping Berth not Provided

Choose this work type when an employee is required to be paid for time spent travelling outside of ordinary hours and a sleeping berth is not provided by the employer for night travel.

Travel Time Allowance – Sleeping Berth Provided

Choose this work type when an employee is required to be paid for time spent travelling outside of ordinary hours and a sleeping berth is provided by the employer for night travel.

Vehicle Allowance

Choose this work type where an employer requests an employee to use their own motor vehicle to perform work duties. The kilometres travelled should be entered into the ‘units’ field i.e. 1 (one) unit is equivalent to 1 (one) kilometre.

Shift conditions

Shift Conditions are further details you can add to a shift when more than one condition applies. Shift conditions are selected when you edit a timesheet record, or when clocking on using the ClockMeIn Time and Attendance or WorkZone apps. The following is a list of Shift Conditions employees can select on their timesheet, and the meaning of each item.

Leading Hand Allowance - 11 to 20 Employees

Select this shift condition when an employee is in charge of 11-20 people for this shift. This condition is only applicable to those classified under the Technical Stream.

Leading Hand Allowance - 3 to 10 Employees

Select this shift condition when an employee is in charge of 3-10 people for this shift. This condition is only applicable to those classified under the Technical Stream.

Leading Hand Allowance - More Than 20 Employees

Select this shift condition when an employee is in charge of more than 20 people for this shift. This condition is only applicable to those classified under the Technical Stream.

Tags

Employee Tags are specific conditions typically related to the employees agreement. These are often conditions negotiated and agreed between the employer and the employee, or unique characteristics of the employees role. Payment of these provisions is usually of a recurring and ongoing nature.

12 Hour Shift by Agreement

Assign this tag when an agreement exists to extend the maximum ordinary working hours per day to 12 hours (rather than 10).

Agreement to Work Saturday Afternoon as Ordinary Time

Assign this tag when an agreement exists between an individual employee and the employer that Saturday afternoon between 1pm and 7pm is classed as ordinary hours.

Agreement to Work Sunday as Ordinary Time

Assign this tag when an agreement exists between an individual employee and the employer that Sunday between 7am and 7pm is classed as ordinary hours.

First Aid Allowance

Assign this tag where an employee is appointed to perform first aid duty for all shifts worked.

Leading Hand Allowance - 3-10 Employees

Assign this tag when an employee is in charge of between three and ten employees. This condition is only applicable to those classified under the Technical Stream.

Leading Hand Allowance - In Charge of 11-20 Employees

Assign this tag when an employee is in charge of between 11 and 20 employees. This condition is only applicable to those classified under the Technical Stream.

Leading Hand Allowance – More Than 20 Employees

Assign this tag when an employee is in charge of more than 20 employees. This condition is only applicable to those classified under the Technical Stream.

Shift Worker

Assign this tag when an employee is employed as a shiftworker.

Permanent Night Shiftworker

Assign this tag where an employee is considered to work permanent night shifts under the conditions in clause 21c.

Time in Lieu of Overtime

Assign this tag when an employee elects to receive time off instead of payment for overtime.

Tool Allowance

Assign this tag when an employee is entitled to a tool allowance.