Compliance notices

Penalty unit changes

The maximum penalties that apply for contraventions of the Fair Work Act increase on 1 January 2023. This resource will be updated soon with the new amounts.

A compliance notice is a notice issued by a Fair Work Inspector which requires an employer to fix a breach of an Australian workplace law.

On this page:

What is a compliance notice

Sometimes when an employer doesn't cooperate with a Fair Work Inspector to fix a breach, we can issue a compliance notice instead of starting legal proceedings.

A compliance notice must include information about:

  • how the employer has breached a workplace law
  • what the employer needs to do to fix the issue (eg. pay an amount to 1 or more employees and/or give evidence to show the issue has been fixed)
  • the time the employer has to fix the issue (eg. that payment is made within 14 days)
  • how the employer can apply to have the notice reviewed by a court
  • what happens if an employer doesn't comply with the notice.

What do you do when you get a compliance notice

If you get a compliance notice from us, it’s important to read it carefully and do what it tells you to do by the date required.

If you need help you can use our Compliance notices online course to get practical information, including step by step guidance to help you respond to a compliance notice.

Failure to comply

If an employer doesn't comply with a compliance notice and we take them to court the employer can be fined.

We can't start legal proceedings for breaches set out in the notice if an employer complies with the notice.

Compliance notices can only be given for breaches that happened after 1 July 2009.

Compliance notices can't be given for breaches that are the subject of a current enforceable undertaking.

Source reference: Fair Work Act 2009 s.716

Tools and resources

Related information

Help for small business