Bringing value to the marketplace

We all expect to be paid a fair and equitable wage for the job that we do. However as Phil Teece explained in the "ALIA pay review proposals" article in the August 2004 edition of inCite, more than 60 per cent of current library professionals in the Western Australian Government sector earn less than $40 000 per year. The question is - is this a fair and equitable wage?

On the 12 November 2002 the Full Bench of the News South Wales Industrial Relations Commission (NSWIRC) ratified the Crown Employees (Librarian, Library Assistants, Library Technicians and Archivists) Award 2002. The structure allowed a direct comparison of rates for library workers with those in other categories - a first in Australia. The resulting decision meant that in New South Wales the lowest possible point for a new graduate librarian is now $39 594. (NSW libraries test case completed, inCite, December 2002 p13). But is this a fair and equitable wage, and what of those people who are not fully qualified or working in the lower positions within a library?

The Western Australian Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993 sets out the minimum conditions for employment and is a good starting place when determining whether or not you are being paid a fair and equitable wage. Please note the following information applies to employees in the State labour relations system only.

The minimum rates of pay are based on employees working a 38-hour week. The adult rate of pay is currently $467.40 per week (from 4th June 2004), which equates to $12.30 per hour of $14.76 for a casual employee. This equates to just over $24 000 per year.

Minimum rates of pay from 4 June 2004

	Full-time or part-time employee	Casual employee
Age	Weekly	Per hour	Per hour
Adult (21 years)	$467.40	$12.30	$14.76
20 years (90 per cent)	$420.70	$11.07	$13.29
19 years (80 per cent)	$374.00	$9.84	$11.81
18 years (70 per cent)	$327.20	$8.61	$10.33
17 years (60 per cent)	$280.50	$7.38	$8.86
16 years (50 per cent)	$233.70	$6.15	$7.38
< 16 years (40 per cent)	$187.00	$4.92	$5.91

Please note that both adult and junior rates of pay are subject to an annual review. Casual and part-time employees are entitled to an hourly rate not less than the minimum rate of pay divided by 38. However, casual and contract employees are also entitled to an additional loading of 20 per cent in lieu of paid leave entitlement (annual leave, sick leave, bereavement leave and public holidays).

For more information, please go to http://www.docep.wa.gov.au and look under the Labour Relations banner. The West Australian Industrial Relations Commission also has information on all awards. Please see the Clerks (Commercial, Social and Professional Services) Award No. 14 of 1972 for more information.

Every employer is bound by a large number of pieces of legislation that determine what can and cannot be considered fair and equitable when offering you work (be it full time, part time, casual or contract). An employer should take into consideration the minimum rates of pay for employees, but also your age and level of experience, qualifications, and what you are going to be expected to do. In the case of the library and records management industries we can also look to the ALIA pay awards and the RMAA for guidance in determining the amount of money that you can earn for any particular position.

But to go back to the title of this piece - bringing value to the marketplace, how do you bring value to the marketplace and will it make a difference to the amount of money that you earn?

The answer is yes. You can attract more to you, by being more "attractive" to an employer. Employers usually recognise those people who have undergone additional training, and taken on more responsibilities. Some people are content to wait for a pay rise, whilst others are always looking to better themselves. Unless you are content to remain doing the same job for the same employer for your entire working life, chances are you will be looking to further your career by moving up the corporate ladder, and in doing so, you may be offered additional monies and other considerations when you do. So my advice would be to not wait for the pay rise, yes it may come - eventually. But in the mean time you will have attracted more to you because of the person you have become.

Lorraine Bradshaw works for Information Enterprises Australia (IEA), a specialist library and records management recruitment agency, consultants and trainers in Western Australia. For permanent staff placements and short-term labour hire solutions.

Lorraine is the current editor of the Australian Record Retention Manual and is the author of IEA's free monthly e-zine Information Overload.

Editors note: Over the next month or so, the editors would love to hear from members who have increased their skills and or qualifications to 'add value' to themselves as employees. We would like to know if you have found it a worthwhile exercise to increase your skills in terms of a pay rise or the ability to move to a new job/field within the information sector. Hopefully we can get a bit of a lively debate going!

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