Self-audit checklist

Closing Loopholes: Prepare for changes

From 26 August 2024, changes apply to casual employment laws and definitions and protections for independent contractors.

The information in this resource is impacted by these changes and will be updated soon.

What you can do now

Using our interactive tool, growers can check their knowledge of workplace rights and obligations, and get tailored help where they identify gaps.

This tool helps to make meeting your workplace obligations quicker and easier in 2 simple steps:

  1. Answer some questions about your workplace practices.
  2. Get information and resources tailored to you and your business.

Your answers are anonymous and won’t be saved.

1. The basics of the Fair Work system

  1. Do you know if an enterprise agreement or other registered agreement applies to your business?
  2. Do you know the award(s) that apply to your business?
  3. Do you know about the National Employment Standards (NES)?
  4. Do you understand the difference between full-time, part-time and casual employment?
  5. Do you know your superannuation obligations?
  6. Do you give all new employees the Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS) when they start with you?
  7. Do you give casual employees the Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS) when they start and again after they've been employed with you for certain periods of time?
  8. Do you give every employee hired on a new fixed term contract a copy of the Fixed Term Contract Information Statement (FTCIS) when they enter into the contract?
  9. Do you know how modern awards, registered agreements, and the NES interact with your employees' contracts of employment?

2. Pay and conditions

  1. Do you know the minimum hourly rate of pay under your relevant award, enterprise agreement or the national minimum wage for each employee?
  2. Do you know how to fix a piece rate for your employees?
  3. Do you know about the new minimum wage guarantee for pieceworkers?
  4. Do you know about the limited situations where the law allows you to deduct or withhold money from pay owing to employees?
  5. Do casual employees receive the correct loadings and penalty rates when they perform ordinary time, overtime and weekend work in accordance with the applicable award or registered agreement?
  6. If employees perform work on weekends, nights or public holidays, do you pay correct penalty rates?
  7. Do you know the maximum number of hours your employees are allowed to work each week?
  8. Are employees being paid the correct allowances in accordance with the applicable award or registered agreement?
  9. Do employees get the correct breaks?
  10. Do you know how to assess the appropriate rate of pay for a pieceworker?
  11. Do you have a separate written piecework record (Horticulture Award) or piecework agreement (Wine Award) with each of your pieceworkers?
  12. Do you know what you need to do if your casual employee notifies you that they want to change to full-time or part-time employment?

3. Using labour hire

If you source labour from a labour hire provider:

  1. Do you know if the providers are certified under any applicable state labour hire licensing schemes?
  2. Do you know the pay and conditions that the providers are paying the farm workers they provide you?
  3. Do you ask questions about the providers' workplace practices, including any subcontracting arrangements?
  4. Do you review your existing contracts with the providers regularly?

4. Record-keeping and pay slips

  1. Do you include these details in your employee records?
    Note: you can keep manual and/or electronic records, but they must be clear, in English, accurate and accessible.
    1. Legal and/or trading name of the employer?
    2. Your ABN (if you have one)?
    3. The employee's name?
    4. Date the employee commenced employment with you?
    5. Basis on which your employees are employed, eg. full-time, part-time, permanent, temporary or casual?
    6. The number of hours worked by each employee, including pieceworkers under the Horticulture Award?
    7. For casual or irregular part-time employees with a guaranteed time-based rate of pay, their hours worked?
    8. The number of overtime hours worked by each employee entitled to overtime pay, including start and finishing times?
    9. Rate of pay, including piece rates where relevant?
    10. Gross and net amounts of pay?
    11. Any deductions made from gross amounts of pay?
    12. Details of any incentives, bonuses, loadings, penalties, monetary allowances or other separately identifiable entitlements?
    13. Leave taken and their accrued leave balance?
    14. For payments of leave that are cashed out, the rate of pay for the leave cashed out and when the payment was made?
    15. Superannuation details (eg. amounts contributed and when contribution was made)?
    16. Copies of any signed piecework records (Horticulture Award) or piecework agreements (Wine Award)?
    17. Copies of any written agreements with employees for averaging hours of work, cashing out accrued leave, individual flexibility arrangements (including any notice or agreement terminating the agreement) and/or guarantees of annual earnings?
    18. 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).
    19. For termination of employment, whether the employment terminated by consent, notice, summarily or another way, and who terminated the employment?
  2. If your employee is a pieceworker, are you confident that you know, and have included, the correct details in their piecework records (Horticulture Award) or piecework agreements (Wine Award) as required by the award?
  3. Do employees get a pay slip within 1 working day after they are paid?
  4. Do you include the following details on your employee's pay slip:
    1. Legal and/or trading name of the employer?
    2. The employee's name?
    3. Your ABN (if you have one)?
    4. Date of payment (e.g. 25/01/2023)?
    5. Period of payment (e.g. 16/01/2023-22/01/2023)?
    6. Gross and net amounts of pay?
    7. Any incentives, bonuses, loadings, penalties, monetary allowances or other separately identifiable amounts paid?
    8. Any leave taken in the pay period?
      Important: Pay slips must not mention paid family and domestic violence leave, however employers need to keep a record of this leave balance and any leave taken by employees. For more information visit our Pay slips page.
    9. 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?
    10. For employees paid an annual rate (salary) – the rate at the last day in the payment period?
    11. Details of any deductions made from the employee's gross pay?
    12. If required to make superannuation contributions for the employee – the amount of each contribution made or required to be made during the payment period and the name (or the name and number) of the superannuation fund?

5. Ending employment

  1. Do you know how much notice is required to end employment for full-time, part-time and casual employees?
  2. Do you know what the law says about withholding pay from your employees if they resign without giving you the required notice?
  3. If you have less than 15 employees, are you aware of your obligations under the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code?
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