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REIA seeks award variation from Fair Work to keep industry employed

ย The REIA, on behalf of the state and territory Real Estate Institutes, has made a submission to the Fair Work Commission to vary the Real Estate Industry Award 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to keep as many real estate salespeople employed as possible.ย 

โ€œCurrently the Award requires that an agent make at least $54.5k pa โ€“ the Minimum Income Threshold Amount (MITA) – for the previous three years before they can be employed on a commission-only basisโ€, said Mr Adrian Kelly, President of the Real Estate Institute of Australia.ย 

โ€œREIA has requested that the Commission agrees to a halving of the MITA in the current circumstances to keep as many of these agents employed as possibleโ€.ย 

โ€œIf this isnโ€™t agreed to, with the certainty of decreased sales activity, these agents are at risk of being stood down as agencies struggle to stay open as long as they canโ€. 

โ€œFeedback REIA has had from its member state and territory Real Estate Institutes suggests that these agents would prefer to have the opportunity to continue to work. 

โ€œIn response to this situation, REIA proposes that the current MITA provisions of the Award be changed to 50% of those currently in place for the duration of the Coronavirus crisis.โ€ย 

โ€œThis is an approach that encapsulates the spirit and intent of the Governmentโ€™s initiatives of sharing the burden,โ€ concluded Mr Kelly.ย 

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