The Fair Work Commission has announced a 3.0% increase to minimum wages following its 2019 Annual Wage Review.
The new national minimum wage will be $740.80 per week or $19.49 per hour.
The increase applies to base pay rates from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2019.
Nothing for now. We’re working on updating our pay tools with the new rates. This usually takes us around 3-4 weeks. We’ll send you an email when the updated pay rates are available.
The change only applies to employees that get their pay rates from the national minimum wage, a modern award or in some cases a registered agreement.
Most employees are covered by an award. If you’re not sure which award applies to you or your employees, you can use Find my award on our website.
The start of the stone fruit season is around the corner in the Mediterranean. Spain continues to increase its stone fruit volumes and thus dominates the market in Europe. A good harvest is also expected in Greece, with rising export volumes to Europe and the Middle East. In Italy, the season has been more dramatic for apricots and nectarines due to heavy rainfall in recent weeks, which has caused a lot of the harvest to be lost. In South Africa, the dry weather has been the reason for a smaller production. In South America, Chile can look back on a successful year, with a 20% growth in nectarine exports to China.
The Netherlands: Lower demand due to the weather
On the Dutch market, peaches and nectarines come mainly from Spain, a country that is currently dealing with a large production. Yet, consumption in the Netherlands is not yet really at the desired level. This is mainly due to the colder weather, which means there is less appetite for nectarines, peaches and apricots than usual. Nevertheless, traders expect this situation to improve in the coming weeks.
Read more of this article.........
Production of California’s stone fruit is slow to start due to the unseasonable California weather.
“Any commodity buyer knows that it’s been a weather-filled last few weeks. It’s not just the rain itself but the overall lower temperatures have slowed down the volume of stone fruit right out of the gate,” says Jon McClarty of HMC Farms in Kingsburg, Ca., who adds that the stone fruit is currently coming mostly out of the Central California region.
McClarty adds that plums are the one stone fruit that hasn’t started in full production yet and is only seeing limited supplies right now. “But peaches and nectarines are seeing a bit of a slowdown because of the weather. Moisture on the fruit is never a positive thing,” he says.
As it stands, overall volume currently is lower than this time last year. “But going forward, it looks to be a pretty normal crop of stone fruit,” McClarty says.- Read more of this article.
Researchers have found that daily consumption of nectar from the Queensland-bred Queen Garnet plum decreases blood pressure and the risk factors of metabolic syndrome.
A Victoria University clinical trial led by Professor Michael Mathai of the Institute for Health and Sport and published in the Journal of Functional Foods in March, found Queen Garnet nectar reduced blood pressure, fasting glucose, insulin and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels in overweight and obese patients who consumed it over three months. Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions which increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
The nectar is among a range of value-added products including powders and chewables produced from the Queen Garnet. The specialty fresh line is in season only in February and March. Nutrafruit Limited holds the global licence to market the plum and associated products.
Overtime penalties for casual employees engaged under the Horticulture Award commences from the first full pay period on or after Monday 15 April 2019, following a decision by the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which was handed down on Tuesday 2 April 2019.
These changes have been confirmed, and include:
These changes must be implemented by 15 April 2019. All growers must ensure they are compliant with the changes to the Horticulture Award or risk non-compliance.
A copy of the Fair Work Commission's decision can be found here.
The EMDG Scheme provides a taxable grant in the form of partial reimbursement of certain expediture incrred in the promotion of Australian products/services by Australian businesses in overseas markets (excluding New Zealand, Iran and North Korea).
Under the scheme, businesses must have a turnover of less than $50 million and spend at least $15000.00 on export promotional activities under the categories listed below. First time applicants, having satisfied grants entry requirements, may combine two financial years' worth of expenses to make up the $15000.00. The grant is payable at the rate of 50% of the eligible expenditure over the first $5000.00.
For more information on the grant and how to apply, please download the PDF attachments below.
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