Professional Employees Award coverage: A comprehensive guide

The Professional Employees Award 2020 is tailored to ensure fair wages and working conditions for employees in various professional sectors. This award addresses the distinct needs and challenges faced by professionals in fields such as engineering, information technology, and scientific research, ensuring they receive fair compensation and protection. For businesses employing professional staff, understanding and complying with this award is essential for legal compliance and fostering a supportive workplace environment.

This guide explores the coverage under the Professional Employees Award, assisting businesses in understanding its complexities and ensuring adherence.

Who’s covered under the Professional Employees Award?

The Professional Employees Award covers a variety of roles within the professional sectors. Here’s a detailed look at who falls under this award:

Professional engineers and scientists

This award applies to employers across Australia with employees performing professional engineering and scientific duties. These professionals are vital to various industries, carrying out tasks such as research, development, and project management. Examples include:

• Professional engineers: Those involved in designing, developing, and maintaining engineering projects.
• Professional scientists: Those conducting scientific research and experiments across multiple disciplines.

Information technology and telecommunications professionals

Employers primarily engaged in the information technology, quality auditing, or telecommunications services industries fall under this award. Employees in these fields play essential roles in maintaining and advancing technological infrastructure and services. Examples include:

• IT specialists: Those responsible for system administration, network management, and software development.
• Telecommunications engineers: Those working on the development and maintenance of communication networks and systems.

Medical Research Professionals

This award also covers employers engaged in medical research institutes and their employees performing professional medical research duties. These roles are essential for advancing medical knowledge and innovation. Examples include:

• Clinical trial coordinators: Those managing and overseeing clinical trials to test new drugs and treatments, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and accurate data collection.
• Biomedical scientists: Those conducting laboratory-based research to explore biological processes and develop new medical technologies and treatments.

On-hire employees

The award covers on-hire employees in the professional sectors listed above, employed by staffing agencies and working temporarily within businesses in these industries. Examples include:

• Contract engineers: Engineers hired through an agency to work on specific projects.
• Temporary IT consultants: IT professionals providing short-term support and expertise to various organisations.

Who isn’t covered under the Professional
Employees Award?

Understanding the exclusions and limitations of the Professional Employees Award is crucial. Here are details of those who fall outside this award's coverage:

• Administrative or operational support employees: This award doesn’t cover employees hired to provide administrative and other operational support outside the specified professional roles. For example, a marketing executive working at a corporate office of an engineering firm doesn’t fall under this award.
• Employees excluded from modern awards: The Fair Work Act excludes certain individuals from award coverage, including high-level executives or senior managers who typically fall outside the scope of modern awards.
• Employees under modern enterprise awards or instruments: Employees covered by modern enterprise awards or enterprise instruments aren’t included in the Professional Employees Award. For instance, staff working under a bespoke enterprise agreement tailored to a large IT company are excluded from this award.
• State reference public sector employees: Employees governed by state-specific public sector awards or transitional awards are also excluded. For example, professionals working in a state-run medical research facility under a state-specific public sector award aren’t covered by the Professional Employees Award.
• Employees covered by other specific awards: Certain employees are covered under different awards specific to their roles. For example, engineers working in the coal mining industry are covered by the Black Coal Mining Industry Award 2020, not the Professional Employees Award.

If an employer is covered by more than one award, the most appropriate award classification applies to the employee's normal work and environment. For example, a professional scientist primarily conducting research at a university might fall under the Higher Education Industry Award instead of the Professional Employees Award, as the former is more relevant to their specific work setting and duties.

Professional Employees Award coverage: Practical example

Dr. Emma is a full-time researcher at a medical research institute. Her responsibilities include conducting experiments, analysing data, supervising lab assistants, writing research papers, and securing funding through grant applications. Additionally, she collaborates with other scientists and attends international conferences to present her findings.

Analysis

Dr. Emma's role is multifaceted, combining hands-on research with supervisory and administrative tasks. Despite her involvement in grant writing and conference presentations, her primary function is conducting medical research. These core activities are essential to the mission of the medical research institute, placing Dr. Emma firmly under the Professional Employees Award. 

Steps to determine coverage

Determining whether an employee falls under the Professional Employees Award involves a structured process. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Identify responsibilities: Start by documenting the employee's primary responsibilities and daily tasks.
2. Compare with awards: Review the definitions and classifications outlined in the Professional Employees Award and other relevant awards to find the best fit.
3. Predominant Function Test: Assess whether the main functions of the employee's job align with roles typically covered by the Professional Employees Award.
4. Check exclusions: Examine the exclusions specified in the Professional Employees Award to ensure the employee's role isn’t covered by another specific award, such as the State Government Agencies Award or the Higher Education Industry Award.
5. Review other employment agreements: Look into any enterprise agreements or specific contracts that might influence award coverage.
6. Consult experts: If there’s any uncertainty about which award applies, seek advice from industrial relations or legal professionals.
7. Maintain thorough records: Document your analysis, the awards considered, any advice received, and the rationale for your final decision to ensure clarity and compliance.

Distinctions within Professional Employees Award coverage

Understanding the nuances within the Professional Employees Award is essential for ensuring compliance. Here are some key aspects related to coverage that might surprise employers:

Broad range of covered professions

The Professional Employees Award covers a wide range of roles, including professional engineering, scientific duties, IT, quality auditing, telecommunications, and medical research. Employers might be surprised to learn that this single award covers such diverse fields, which means they need to carefully check the classifications in Schedule A and Schedule B in the award to ensure proper coverage.

Medical research institutes

Employers principally engaged as medical research institutes and their employees performing professional medical research duties fall under this award, specifically covered by Schedule B in the award—Medical Research Employees. This specialised coverage ensures that medical researchers are appropriately classified and compensated, which might not be obvious to employers not directly involved in healthcare but engaged in research activities.

Administrative and operational support exclusion

Employees providing administrative or operational support outside of the specified professional roles aren’t covered by the Professional Employees Award. For example, an HR manager at an IT firm wouldn’t fall under this award. This distinction ensures that only those performing the core professional duties outlined in the award are included, which can affect how support staff are classified.

Simplifying Professional Employee Award coverage compliance with Rippling

Navigating the complexities of award coverage demands meticulous attention to ensure both compliance and fair treatment of employees. Rippling’s unified platform offers a comprehensive set of tools designed to simplify and streamline your business’s adherence to award coverage requirements. Key features include:

• Automated employee classification: Automatically classify employees according to the appropriate awards.
• Real-time compliance alerts: Stay updated with any changes in award coverage.
• Detailed reporting: Generate reports to ensure compliance and maintain accurate records.
• Custom templates: Use pre-built and customisable templates for various awards.
• Audit support: Access historical data and audit trails to support compliance audits.

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.