Wage Behaviour and Labour Employment in Australia

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Wage Behaviour and Labour Employment in Australia 
The paper is describing Australia’s policy of minimum wages. The country has an elaborate system of paying minimum wages to the people based on various factors including the industry, location of the business and the skills of the employee. The minimum wage changes in Australia are analyzed using the annual adjustments provided by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) since this model is the most common method used in Australia. The changes in the minimum wages are modest, incremental and predictable. The model establishes that the changes associated with wages are passed on in award-reliant jobs without consideration of the input of the number of hours worked and job loss to specific individuals ("Effect of Minimum Wage Increases on Wages, Hours Worked and Job Loss | Bulletin – September Quarter 2018").
The body responsible for providing a legal setting of minimum wages in Australia is the Fair Work Commission (FWC). The set value is always dependent on various factors ranging from the qualifications of the employee to the age of the worker, the industry that the worker is into the skill set of the employee. However, a general minimum pay cut was set to $ 18.93 per hour as of June 2018. The amount is just the stated minimum wage, and as earlier outlined it is subjected to fluctuations based on the above factors, for example, a supervisor of lift operators in a ski resort earns approximately $ 24.63 per hour. The National Minimum Wage (NMW) adjustment system for minimum wage is subjected to changes on an annual basis usually around July. There is often a consistent increase in the amount added to the minimum wage; a flat amount of dollar increment to every wage or raising the wage by a specific percentage. The 2018 wage review by the NMW saw a 3.5% increase of all wage awards across all fields. The Australian system of determining award wage is by far the better than any other nation in the world. Comparisons with other countries reveal that Australia’s policy sets its international award standards of the minimum wage. As opposed to other nations which set a single minimum wage for the entire country or individual states as in the case of the USA, the Australian policy has thousands of varied minimum wages ranges between $ 18.93 per hour to $ 171.00 per hour ("Effect of Minimum Wage Increases on Wages, Hours Worked and Job Loss | Bulletin – September Quarter 2018").
The complexity of the Australian award wage setting system makes it difficult to estimate the effects of minimum wages on employment. The dif...