Commercial Sales Award Guide [MA000083]

This article provides guidelines on the Commercial Sales Award  package. For more information on this award, please refer to the Commercial Sales Award .

What is the Commercial Sales Award ?

The Commercial Sales Award is an industrial award that governs the terms and conditions of employment for employees in advertising sales and commercial travelling roles. It defines various terms and outlines provisions related to wages, superannuation, and employment conditions for covered employees.

Who is covered by the Commercial Sales Award ?

Coverage

The Commercial Sales Award is applicable to individuals working as Commercial Travellers, Merchandisers, and Advertising Sales Representatives, as well as their respective employers. These roles involve working outside of the employer’s business office or location, often on the road or in various locations.

A Commercial Traveller is someone who:

• sells or solicits orders for articles, goods, wares, merchandise or material that is sold wholesale or resale, or will be used by the customer for producing, preparing or distributing what they will sell.

Commercial Travellers must be selling goods for wholesale sale (ie. not for retail).

An Advertising Sales Representative is someone who:

• solicits orders, obtains sales leads or appointments, or promotes sales in other ways for  advertising space or time of any kind.

A Merchandiser is someone who: 

• promotes the employer’s products,
• re-orders stock
• prepares display units and gondola ends.

They may also solicit orders for these products but only as a minor part of their work.

The Commercial Sales Award extends its coverage to labour hire businesses and their employees who work as Commercial Travellers, Advertising Sales Representatives, and Merchandisers. This applies when these employees are placed with an employer who is not covered by an award that specifically classifies these roles.

The Commercial Sales Award doesn’t cover:

• Commercial Travellers, Merchandisers, and Advertising Sales Representatives who are employed by a business covered by a different modern award that specifically includes a classification for these roles.

The following awards are examples of those not covered by the Commercial Sales Award:

• Clerks Award
• Contract Call Centres Award
• Graphic Arts Award
• Retail Award.

Source: Commercial Sales Award  [MA000059] clauses 2, 4 and schedule A.

How are the hours of work arranged in the Commercial Sales Award  ?

Ordinary hours of work

• The ordinary hours of work for a full-time employee are an average of 38 per week with a maximum of 152 hours over 28 consecutive days.
• The ordinary hours of work may be worked on any days of the week.
•  The ordinary hours of work will not exceed 10 hours on any day.

Breaks

An employer will allow an employee reasonable time to have regular and normal meals on each day of the employee’s employment.

How are wages and allowances calculated in the Commercial Sales Award ?

Minimum rates

Adult employee

Junior minimum rates

*For more information about minimum rates, please refer to the complete version of Fair Work.

   Overtime and penalty rates

Allowance

How is the leave managed in the Commercial Sales Award ?

In the Commercial Sales Award , leave entitlements for employees are determined by the National Employment Standards (NES) and the classification of the employee.

Annual leave

Annual leave is provided for in the NES,  but does not apply to a casual employee.

During annual leave, employees are entitled to a 17.5% loading on their minimum rate of pay, unless they receive commission, in which case they will receive either the average commission earned over the past 12 months or a specified loading, whichever is higher.

Public holidays

Public holiday entitlements are provided for in the NES.

Both full-day and part-day public holidays under the NES can be substituted with another day or part-day through mutual agreement between the employer and employee.

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