(See also Re Health and Community Employees Psychologists (State) Award [2001] NSWIRComm 302; Re Corrections Health Service Nurses (State) Award (No 2) [2001] NSWIRComm 58; Metal, Engineering and Associated Industries Award 1998 - AIRC Print T4991, 29 December 2000 for discussion of special case principle).
8 APESMA relied upon a survey undertaken by the Australian Institute of Management, AIM National Salary Survey 2005: Large Companies and the 2005 Chandler Macleod Market Salary Survey, to demonstrate that while many employees covered by the award received overaward payments, some employees were paid only the minimum award rates. There was no dispute amongst the parties, that this was, in fact, the case. They also agreed that the 2005 State Wage Case increase would be absorbed into overaward payments and that therefore, the application only affected employees who received minimum award rates of pay in their employment.
9 To satisfy the onus which fell upon it in the proceedings, APESMA relied upon the history of the award, which showed that since 1997, there had been considerable delay in State Wage Case increases flowing into the award. The 1997 and 1998 State Wage Case increases took effect in March 2000; the 1999 State Wage Case in August 2000; the 2000 State Wage Case in December 2001; the 2001 State Wage Case in June 2002; the 2002 State Wage Case in June 2003; the 2003 State Wage Case 2003 in June 2004 and the 2004 State Wage Case in August 2005.
10 The case advanced was that the award was a 'lagging award', as discussed in various State Wage case decisions. Employers had benefited from delays in the introduction of State Wage Case increases and employees had suffered as a result. Given the impending enactment of new federal legislation, which would have the effect of removing the award from the State Industrial system for corporate employers, employees paid the minimum award rates faced great uncertainty and potentially, further disadvantage, if the union's claim were not granted,
11 The case advanced by Australian Business Industrial and supported by Employers' First was that the award was not a 'lagging award' and that foreshadowed changes to the federal industrial relations system were irrelevant to the claims here advanced. The Union had accordingly not met the onus which fell upon it in these proceedings.
12 The concept of a lagging award emerged in the State Wage Case decisions, after a concern expressed in the State Wage Case - August 1997 (1997) 73 IR 200 decision, that some awards had not been varied to give effect to earlier State Wage Case decisions. Mechanisms were put in place to ensure that these problems were addressed. In the State Wage Case - June 1998 (1998) 79 IR 416 decision it was observed at p 440: