After you have selected the most suitable candidate to fill your vacancy, whether permanent, casual or temporary, you will need to refer to the position description that was developed when advertising the position (see above). The position description will have the title of the role which should reflect the award/agreement level of the role.
You then need to consider any qualifications and experience the successful candidate may have. For example, a new teacher will be either three or four year trained. They might have had both full time and part time experience with previous employers, and they may have also upgraded to an ECT from a diploma qualification. All this information is relevant when determining their current level and therefore the appropriate pay rate.
Under the Children’s Services Award, if you are filling a Level 3 position and the employee has both a Certificate III and a Diploma in Children’s Services, the correct pay rate will be at Level 3.4. In the case of a Level 4 position, if the employee has a Diploma qualification and has completed 1 year in a Level 4 position at another service (at more than 19 hours per week), the correct pay rate will be at Level 4.2. Once you have ascertained what Level is applicable to the candidate this will determine the employees current pay rate.
When employing an Administration/Clerical person the service needs to determine which classification the job description will fall into and the employee will be paid at this level (there are no incremental steps in the Clerks – Private Sector Award).
It is vital that the position is classified in the terms of the award or agreement at the time you are recruiting so as to provide clear and accurate information to the employee and they have an idea of their potential pay rate.
Please contact the member Infoline on 1800 991 602 if you are unsure of the correct pay rate for a new employee.