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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple Retail Store employees in Australia have reached an agreement with the company on a new four-year contract, bringing the base pay for entry-level employees up to $22.45 ($20.95 USD) and allowing for 2% annual pay increases, reports ifoAppleStore.

The contract (PDF link), which was approved by 90% of the country's retail employees and certified by the Australian government, will go into effect on November 1 and also reclassifies the hierarchy of retail employees to define specific responsibilities.

apple_store_sydney.jpg
The Apple Store in Sydney, Australia​
For instance, Level 1 employees include those responsible for store aspects such as assisting customers and doing repairs, which correspond to Apple Specialist and Genius positions, while Level 2 employees are defined as those who work at a "higher level" than Level 1 employees and/or supervise as designated area of the store. Meanwhile, Level 3 employees perform full managerial duties, and correspond to Apple Business Leader, Store Leader, and Market Leader positions.
When the agreement becomes effective this November 1st, starting pay for full-time Level 1 employees will be $20.95 per hour (all rates in U.S. dollars), and Level 2 will start at $25.26. Casual employees will receive 25 percent more per hour to offset fewer benefits. Level 3 employees are management, and will receive a base annual pay of $72,779. The Level 1 base pay represents a 25 percent premium over the current $16.69 Australian minimum wage. However, the annual pay increases are less than the FWC's 2.6 percent increase in the 2013 minimum wage.
Also included in the new contract are terms on grievance procedures and general working conditions. Notably, workers can receive multiple weeks of "redundancy" pay if Apple determines that a job being performed is no longer required, with compensation depending on age and years of continuous service. Additionally, workers who have a first-aid qualification are paid an extra $29.56 every two weeks, and all workers are also permitted to take two hours off from work to donate blood up to four times a year.

Finally, the agreement touches on the subject of 'Bag Check' inspections, which was the subject of a class action lawsuit last year. Apple Australia states that employees will be required to participate and fully-co operate with the bag and locker inspections, as they "may happen at any time."

Article Link: Apple Australia Reaches New Four Year Contract with Retail Employees
 

the8thark

macrumors 601
Apr 18, 2011
4,628
1,735
Article claims Apple Australia pay rates are low

I think that's about right.
And the bag check thing is pretty much becoming standard here. (For customers and employees). I think that's a good thing.

[edit]

This is where the original article appeared:
http://www.afr.com/p/technology/what_an_apple_genius_worth_XylpfNr9PhwS50YQOkChmN
The Australian Financial review is who needs to be referenced.

ifoapplestore did not originally write this story. They just took the information from other sources without quoting the original source.
 
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DELTAsnake

macrumors 6502
Jul 18, 2008
382
1
Australia
That's pathetic for a highly profitable company like Apple Australia. I make more per hour as a low level employee at a major Australian retail chain. I have a family member that works at McDonalds that make more per hour. Really Apple employee's paid less than McDonalds, thats sad.
 

abhibeckert

macrumors 6502
Jun 2, 2007
429
592
Cairns, Australia
That's pathetic for a highly profitable company like Apple Australia. I make more per hour as a low level employee at a major Australian retail chain. I have a family member that works at McDonalds that make more per hour. Really Apple employee's paid less than McDonalds, thats sad.
Yeah I agree. The pay is enough to live off but it's significantly lower than the normal hourly rate for someone working in retail.

----------

And the bag check thing is pretty much becoming standard here. (For customers and employees)
I won't allow anybody to search my bag.

They can't do anything except refuse to serve me or take me under citizen arrest - if they do the latter I will file a wrongful arrest lawsuit. It's a crime unless you have evidence.

My sister works at Big W and they have ended up going back to just not doing anything about bags. Anybody who steals will refuse to be searched and you can't really do anything. They tried telling customers to leave bags at the door but that policy ended when a teenager's bag was stolen.
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
Does anyone know how the new Australian pay rates compare to what Apple pays its US retail employees?

Why would anyone care? What matters is how it compares to other Australian retailers. Or you have to add in the cost of taxes, healthcare, housing, food, transport, and so on and so on.
 

wikiverse

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2012
689
952
With those wages for retail workers, I need to leave the USA and learn how to say, "G'day, Mate".

Good luck with that. Australia is one of the most expensive countries in the world to live.

These pay rates are still around $20,000 a year less than the average male salary.
 

ianday

macrumors member
Jun 16, 2011
37
20
That's pathetic for a highly profitable company like Apple Australia. I make more per hour as a low level employee at a major Australian retail chain. I have a family member that works at McDonalds that make more per hour. Really Apple employee's paid less than McDonalds, thats sad.

Wow, I think you're comparing a full-time/part-time rate to a casual rate at McDonalds. I also worked a few major Australian retailers and didn't earn near this amount at Apple.

$22.45/hr Full time - part time
$28.06/hr Casual

As a comparison I made $17.49/hr part-time in retail 2 years ago. I know many people in retail earning comparative rates. In fact $22.45 is more comparable to a store manager position at many retailers.
 

thaifood

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2011
310
96
$750/week before tax is pretty slim compared to cost of living etc in Australia. You certainly won't be splashing much around after living expenses.

It's reasonable compared to other retail jobs for pay though.
 

brandscill

macrumors 6502
Jul 10, 2008
442
89
They pay what they know they can get away with, same here in the UK. Plenty of young people are looking for work and they get hundreds of applications for every job they advertise. The only time an employer need pay more is when there is a worker shortage. Apple UK pays retail employees inline with most low pay retail jobs and I don't see why they shouldn't. The job doesn't call for any specific qualification and all training to become a "genius" is done by Apple.
 

fermat-au

macrumors 6502
Dec 7, 2009
464
521
Australia
Interesting read. The pay seems fair, most store employees are retail, not tech support. From the document I discover Apple have 2,372 employees in Australia. That is an average of 113 per store. This seems high and implies many Apple retail employees are casual very part time. It would be interesting to know percentage of hours work by casuals verse permanent employees.

Another interesting fact is that the agreement was signed at Level 16, 77 King St Sydney. This is above the George St Apple Store, the first in Australia. I didn't know that Apple had moved their corporate office there.

The photo used by my MacRumors is an Apple one from the opening of the store. It is remarkable how much has been Photoshoped out. The light/traffic light poles are not there and the McDonald's sign next door is "turned off". Now there is also a bus stop and shelter outside the store.
More accurate view https://www.flickr.com/photos/amacomics/4141220441
 
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lk400

macrumors 65816
Aug 26, 2012
1,047
625
Wow, I think you're comparing a full-time/part-time rate to a casual rate at McDonalds. I also worked a few major Australian retailers and didn't earn near this amount at Apple.

$22.45/hr Full time - part time
$28.06/hr Casual

As a comparison I made $17.49/hr part-time in retail 2 years ago. I know many people in retail earning comparative rates. In fact $22.45 is more comparable to a store manager position at many retailers.

Amazing. I live in a city where cost of living is higher than Melbourne or Sydney, but equivalent type of wages (retail) are half of that, sometimes less. Working conditions are harder too.

I came here to see other people be impressed by how high these wages are, and was shocked to see people complain!
 

fermat-au

macrumors 6502
Dec 7, 2009
464
521
Australia
Amazing. I live in a city where cost of living is higher than Melbourne or Sydney, but equivalent type of wages (retail) are half of that, sometimes less. Working conditions are harder too.

I came here to see other people be impressed by how high these wages are, and was shocked to see people complain!
What city do you live in?

In this discussion people need to remember that Australia is a higher minimum wage that most other parts of the world.
 

Eithanius

macrumors 68000
Nov 19, 2005
1,541
412
Do you guys believe when I tell you I used to work for an Apple RESELLER casual part time for only $2.50 per hour...? That is how bad working for a reseller on some so-called 3rd world country...
 

chocolaterabbit

macrumors regular
Nov 2, 2008
243
56
That's pathetic for a highly profitable company like Apple Australia. I make more per hour as a low level employee at a major Australian retail chain. I have a family member that works at McDonalds that make more per hour. Really Apple employee's paid less than McDonalds, thats sad.

Yeah I agree. The pay is enough to live off but it's significantly lower than the normal hourly rate for someone working in retail.

Where exactly are you guys getting your info from? This is right in line with pretty much every other retail job out there. Right now Woolies/Coles pays around $20/hour, and all their associated brands are pretty much the same (Big W, Target, Bunnings, BWS, Dan Murphys etc.) I don't know about Myer/DJs, but I doubt they are paying that much more than that.
Can Apple afford to pay them more? Yeah, but there's no incentive for them to do it. Are they paying them below average retail wage? No.
 

Mr Rabbit

macrumors 6502a
May 13, 2013
638
5
'merica
Does anyone know how the new Australian pay rates compare to what Apple pays its US retail employees?

I was hired into Apple as a Genius in 2008 at just over $15/h with full benefits. I was making close to $17.50/h when I left about three years later. I would have made significantly more in some markets and a bit less in other markets, it's centered around COL. Compared to other companies, for the same tech work but much less stress I made $13/h at an AASP when I left Apple, albeit without any benefits.

I haven't heard any pay related info in a year or so but the last bit I recall is that experienced people (mostly from GeekSquad) were being hired in as Genius' at about $19-20/hr.

So the Aussie rates don't seem terribly different from ours at first glance, I have no idea what their cost of living is though.
 

DELTAsnake

macrumors 6502
Jul 18, 2008
382
1
Australia
Where exactly are you guys getting your info from?=

It says in the article they are getting $22.45.

I don't know if I'm allowed to say where I work and the exact pay rate as we have a restrictive social media policy but it's one of the places you mentioned and I get more than Apple is reportedly giving per hour.

Oh well, there go my dreams of working for Apple if they ever open a store here... I wonder how well JB HiFi pay???
 
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