A recent nation-wide survey has revealed that the wine industry offers wage increases that are higher than the national average and also provides additional benefits for employees.
According to the 2019 National Wine Industry Salary and Benefits Survey released by the SA Wine Industry Association, the survey covered more than 1900 employees from 39 companies across the Australian wine industry.
The survey report provides a wealth of information on salary and benefits practices and trends across 57 common wine industry positions.
Incentive pay, including bonuses and commissions, was also revealed to form a significant part of the remuneration package for a number of positions including sales representatives, chief winemakers, chief viticulturists and operations managers.
For small businesses, however, incentive pay is less common.
The most commonly provided employee benefits include cars, fuel cards and professional subscriptions.
The survey is driven by SAWIA's Employee Relations Committee to ensure the industry can access relevant and up to date salary data and information about salary practices.
SAWIA chief executive Brian Smedley said industry feedback was that the salary survey was critical to business planning practices.
"We will continue to deliver practical tools such as this to industry," he said.
"It's part of our mission to provide leadership, advice and support to SA grape and wine businesses, to help them prosper."
