Federal public servants have a new pay "safety net", though its minimum wages are far below what almost all staff now receive.
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The Australian Public Service Enterprise Award 2015, released by the Fair Work Commission last week, is the first new award for the bureaucracy in 17 years.
It outlines the minimum pay and conditions under which government agencies can employ staff and will be used to test whether proposed enterprise agreements are legal.
However, because public servants are paid well above the award, the Public Service Commission believes the new safety net "will have little or no effect on the assessment of agreements".
For example, the median annual salary of an executive level 2 officer was $133,777 when last reported (at the end of 2013), while the new award provides a minimum salary of less than half that ($64,588).
The median pay for the typical Canberra-based official, an EL1, was $108,013, but the award covers just 55 per cent of that ($59,546). Even Australia's lowest-paid EL1, who received a base salary of $70,594, earned much more the award.
The Public Service Commission said in a recent circular that APS enterprise agreements needed neither to mirror the award nor provide greater benefits, but they must "provide a package of terms, conditions and remuneration that results in a better overall outcome than the award".
"In the main, salary rates in [existing] enterprise agreements are well above the award rates. This provides reasonable latitude for agencies in bargaining to reduce certain award conditions in exchange for other benefits."
The award also entrenched other rights, such as a 36¾-hour working week, 12 weeks' paid maternity leave and a range of job or location-specific allowances.
The federal government is negotiating wage deals for about 150,000 of its staff, whose agreements expired almost a year ago.
However, agencies and their employees are struggling to compromise, as the bureaucracy's proposals must meet tight new rules overseen by the Public Service Commission that provide little scope for pay rises.
The Community and Public Sector Union said it worked over three years to ensure the new award protected public servants' working conditions.
The union's national secretary, Nadine Flood, described the Fair Work Commission's decision as "
We are pleased the government's attempt to use the award system to reduce conditions and impose longer hours has been defeated but the fight isn't over.
"It's clear the government will seek the same sorts of cuts through enterprise bargaining and the Productivity Commission's review of workplace relations."
