'The updates… ensure the award better reflects contemporary retail trading arrangements'
Part-time employees in wholesale and retail establishments in Western Australia can now request to work over 64 hours per fortnight under recent changes introduced by the government.
The WA said it introduced new provisions to the state's Shop and Warehouse (Wholesale and Retail Establishments) Award involving part-time and casual employees.
"The WA award now contains a provision that allows a part-time employee to request to work more than 64 hours per fortnight," the state government said in a media release.
"This update is intended to facilitate requests for flexible working arrangements, allowing part-time employees to work slightly less than full time hours for a variety of reasons."
Meanwhile, the changes under the award also update the definition of a casual employee to "simply mean a person employed by the hour."
The changes also standardise casual loading to 25% for all casual engagements. Casual loading refers to the additional payment casual employees receive per hour on top of their base rate of pay.
"To improve clarity, the award now also includes the method for applying casual loading to penalty rates," the WA government added.
These changes to the Shop and Warehouse Award have been in effect since June 5.
According to the state government, the updates remove several outdated and "obsolete provisions" to improve clarity and make it easier for employers and employees to comply with the provisions.
"The updates to the Shop and Warehouse award ensure the award better reflects contemporary retail trading arrangements," the state government added.
