Australian employment is governed by the Fair Work Act 2009 at the federal level, with the Fair Work Commission setting minimum conditions through Modern Awards and Enterprise Agreements. Employers must navigate Superannuation Guarantee contributions, Single Touch Payroll reporting to the ATO, and state-specific long service leave rules. The glossary below covers the terms every Australian employer must understand.
The Act covers the vast majority of employees through the national workplace relations system (excluding WA state public servants). It sets minimum entitlements, unfair dismissal rights, enterprise bargaining rules, and protected industrial action provisions. The Fair Work Ombudsman can investigate complaints and seek court-ordered penalties of up to $93,900 per contravention for corporations.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt's award interpretation engine applies the correct Modern Award pay rates and penalty rates per employee, providing the Fair Work Ombudsman-ready records needed to demonstrate compliance.
There are over 120 Modern Awards covering industries from retail and hospitality to construction and healthcare. Where an award applies, employers cannot pay less than the award rate — even if the employee agrees to lower pay. The Fair Work Commission reviews award rates annually (effective 1 July). Award complexity is high: the Hospitality Industry (General) Award alone contains multiple classifications, split shifts, and loaded rates.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt maintains an up-to-date library of Modern Award pay rates and auto-applies the correct classification, penalty multiplier, and allowance for each employee's shift, day type, and hours worked.
NES entitlements cannot be excluded or reduced by an employment contract, Modern Award, or Enterprise Agreement. Key entitlements include 4 weeks' paid annual leave per year (5 for shift workers), 10 days' paid personal/carer's leave, 12 months' unpaid parental leave (extendable to 24), and the right to request flexible work arrangements after 12 months.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt accrues annual leave and personal leave in line with NES minimum rates, applies shift-worker leave rules, and tracks parental leave periods so HR has accurate balances at all times.
The SG rate is 11.5% from 1 July 2024 and rises to 12% on 1 July 2025. Employers who fail to pay SG on time must pay the Superannuation Guarantee Charge (SGC), which is non-deductible and includes interest (10% p.a.) and an administration fee. The ATO can audit SG compliance and disqualify employers from tax deductions on late contributions.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt identifies the ordinary time earnings components (excluding overtime) for each employee, calculates the correct SG contribution amount, and generates the fund remittance data for on-time quarterly payment.
STP Phase 2 (mandatory from 1 January 2022) requires employers to disaggregate salary and wage components — separating gross wages, allowances, overtime, and leave loading — and report each item type to the ATO. Employers with 20+ employees must report via STP-enabled payroll software; micro-employers (1–4 employees) have concessional reporting options. Inaccurate STP data can trigger ATO verification queries.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt captures and categorises every pay component per employee per pay event so your payroll system can generate accurate STP Phase 2 submissions with correctly disaggregated income types.
Rates vary significantly by industry and day. Under the Hospitality Award, for example, ordinary hours on a Sunday attract 175% of the weekday rate; on a public holiday it rises to 225%. Failure to apply correct penalty rates is one of the most common underpayment issues investigated by the Fair Work Ombudsman, and back-pay obligations can extend years.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt maps each shift to its applicable award penalty multiplier based on the day of the week, start/end time, and public holiday calendar — generating per-shift cost breakdowns before payroll is processed.
The High Court's WorkPac v Rossato decision and subsequent 2021 Fair Work Act amendments clarified that employers can set off casual loading against NES leave entitlements if a casual employee is later found to be a permanent employee, provided the loading is clearly identified on each payslip. However, 'regular and systematic' casuals have the right to request conversion to permanent employment.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt flags employees working regular and systematic patterns consistent with permanent employment, alerting HR before the 12-month casual conversion trigger, and itemises casual loading separately on every payslip.
LSL is governed by state and territory legislation rather than the Fair Work Act — each jurisdiction has different qualifying periods, accrual rates, and portability rules. In NSW, employees accrue 1/5 of a week per year of service (entitlement after 10 years; proportionate entitlement on termination after 5 years). In Victoria, it's 1/60 of service (accessible after 7 years). LSL liability must be provisioned in company accounts.
How ClockIt Helps
ClockIt accrues LSL based on the applicable state legislation for each employee, tracks continuous service (including periods of parental leave or unpaid leave that don't break continuity), and shows employers their total LSL liability in real time.
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