Are you uncertain whether you're meeting all your obligations as a small business employer? The easiest way to find out is to check for yourself.
Self-auditing your business has many benefits, and reduces the likelihood of any costly mistakes or disputes in the future.
Our interactive small business checklist will give you an indication of how you’re tracking, and help you identify areas for improvement.
1. Awards, agreements and the National Employment Standards
- Do you know if an enterprise agreement or other registered agreement applies to your business?
- Do you know the award(s) that apply to your business?
- Do you know about the National Employment Standards (NES)?
- Do you understand the difference between full-time, part-time and casual employment?
- Do you give all new employees the Fair Work Information Statement when they start with you?
- Do you give new casual employees the Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS) when they start with you?
- Do you know how modern awards and National Employment Standards interact with your existing workplace agreements?
2. Pay and conditions
- Do you know the minimum rate of pay under the relevant award or enterprise agreement for each employee?
- Do casual employees receive the correct loading for ordinary time/overtime and weekend work in accordance with the relevant award or agreement?
- If work is performed on weekends, nights or public holidays do you pay correct penalty rates?
- Are district/uniform/late work or other allowances being paid as per the relevant award/agreement?
- Do employees get the correct meal breaks?
- Do you know the process for considering a casual employee’s request for permanent (full-time or part-time) work?
3. Record-keeping and pay slips
Do you include these details on the employee's records? Note: you can keep manual and/or electronic records.
- Legal and/or trading name of your business?
- The employee's name?
- Date the employee commenced work with you?
- Whether your employees are full-time, part-time or casual?
- The number of hours worked by each employee?
- The number of overtime hours worked by each employee?
- Rate of pay?
- Any written agreements of hours worked, individual flexibility arrangements or guarantees of annual earnings?
- Records relating to any annualised wage arrangement under an award (including, for example, method of calculation, outer limits on penalty and overtime hours, start times, finish times, and any unpaid breaks).
- Gross and net amount of pay?
- Details for any lawful deductions?
- Monetary allowances?
- Leave accrued/taken?
- Superannuation details?
- Termination details?
- Do employees get a pay slip within 1 working day after they are paid?
- Do you include the following details on your employee's pay slip:
- Employer ABN
- Legal and/or trading name of employer?
- Employee's name?
- Date of payment (e.g. 28/02/2018)?
- Period of payment (e.g. 19/02/2018-26/02/2018)?
- Gross and net amount of pay?
- For employees paid an hourly rate - the ordinary hourly rate of pay, number of hours worked at that rate and the amount of payment at that rate?
- For employees paid an annual rate (salary), that rate as at the last day in the payment period?
- Details of any deductions made from the employee's pay?
- Amount and the name of the superannuation fund (for employers required to make superannuation contributions for the benefit of employees)?
4. Ending employment
- Are you aware of your obligations under the Small Business Dismissal Code?
- Do you know how much notice of termination is required to end employment?
- Do you know about entitlements to redundancy pay?
Results
Looks like you're on the right track
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- use web chat to ask a quick question or find out what to do next
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- submit an enquiry to ask for our help with complex questions or resolving workplace issues
- save your favourite pages from our site, including award summaries from Find my award.
Awards, agreements and the National Employment Standards
The terms and conditions in the NES are the safety net for a majority of workers in Australia. It’s important that you understand where your employees’ minimum entitlements come from (minimum wage, award or enterprise agreement) and what you need to do to meet your obligations.
To find out more you can use: