Supported Employment Services Award Easy Read Factsheet

This fact sheet is about the Supported Employment Services Award.

We say the SES Award for short.

The SES Award is the rules for people who work in supported employment services.

A supported employment service is usually an Australian Disability Enterprise.

We say ADE for short.

This factsheet is written in Easy Read.

Hard words are in bold.

We explain what they mean.

It is a good idea to read this factsheet with support.

Every job has an Award or Enterprise Agreement.

An Award or Enterprise Agreement is the rules about how your pay is worked out.

These rules say:

• How much money you can be paid for different types of work

• What breaks and holidays you can take

• Other rights you have at work.

This Easy Read document has information about the SES Award only.

To find more information about Awards you can visit the Fair Work Commission website:
https://www.fwc.gov.au/work-conditions/awards/find-award

The Fair Work Commission is part of the Australian Government that makes Awards and helps with disputes in the workplace

The SES Award has 9 pay grades.

A pay grade is how much money you can be paid for different kinds of work.

The lowest pay is $7.10 per hour.

The highest pay is $31.92 per hour

The national minimum wage is $24.95 per hour.

The national minimum wage is the lowest amount that most people not on the SES Award get paid.

Your employer decides your pay grade.

They do this by:

• Looking at the kinds of tasks you do in your job

• How much support you need to do the tasks.

The higher pay grades are for people who:

• Do more tasks
• Need less support.

The lower pay grades are for people who:

• Do more tasks
• Need less support.

If you think your pay grade is wrong you can ask your employer to check it again.

If you still think your pay grade is wrong you can follow the steps on page 19 of this document.

Some people need more support to work.

If you need a lot of support to work your employer might pay you a supported wage.

A supported wage is when you get paid less than the pay grade.

Your supported wage is based on how long it takes to do tasks at work.

To get a supported wage you will have a supported wage assessment.

A supported wage assessment is when an assessor comes to watch you do your job.

Assessors are people who work for the government.

Your employer must tell you what will happen in the supported wage assessment.

You have the right to:

• Decide with your employer what day and time the assessment should happen

• Have a support person with you when the assessment happens

For example a support worker or family member.

• Any reasonable adjustments you need

Reasonable adjustments are changes to the way you do your job to make it accessible.

For example having Easy Read information about the assessment.

The assessor will time how long it takes you to do your tasks.

This will decide how much your employer must pay you on a supported wage.

For example.

Mary has a disability and has a job making cardboard boxes.

An assessor times how long it takes Mary to make a cardboard box.

It takes Mary 10 minutes to make a cardboard box.

It takes a person without disability 5 minutes to do the same task.

This means Mary can make half as many cardboard boxes in the same time as someone without disability.

This means Mary’s supported wage will be half of her pay grade.

The lowest amount you can be paid on a supported wage is $3.12 per hour.

A supported wage assessment only changes your pay.

It does not change any other work rights in your Award or Enterprise Agreement.

For example holidays or sick leave.

If you are on a supported wage before June 2026 you will have an assessment every 3 years.

If you are on a supported wage after June 2026 you will have an assessment once every year.

Having a new assessment makes sure you are getting the right pay as you learn new skills.

If you think your pay grade or supported wage is wrong you have the right to review.

The right to review is when you ask for your pay to be checked again.

If you want this to happen you must tell your employer.

It is also a good idea to write it down.

For example in an email.

You can ask a person you trust to support you to do this.

The rules say your employer has 21 days to tell you what they will do next.

If you do not agree with what your employer says you can tell the Fair Work Commission.

To contact the Fair Work Commission you must fill out this form:
https://www.fwc.gov.au/form/apply-resolve-dispute-about-award-or-agreement-form-f10

It is a good idea to ask someone you trust to help fill in the form.

After you have sent off the form the Fair Work Commission will contact you to talk about it.

While the review is happening the rules say your job must continue like normal.

This means you cannot get in trouble or lose your job for asking for a review.

The right to review can help make sure you get the right pay for the work you do.