Is your business Fair Work compliant? A 2026 checklist
Most compliance breaches aren’t deliberate — they’re quiet gaps that sit unnoticed until a claim or an audit finds them. Here’s how to check the eight areas that matter most.
Updated June 2026 · 7 min read
Compliance is the part of running a business that’s invisible right up until it’s expensive. A misread award, an out-of-date contract or a missing record rarely causes a problem on the day it happens — it causes one months or years later, when an employee makes a claim or the Fair Work Ombudsman comes knocking.
The good news: the areas that matter are knowable, and most can be checked in an afternoon. Use the checklist below as a starting point for a self-audit of your business.
The eight areas every Australian employer must get right
- ✓The correct modern award. Every employee is covered by an award, an enterprise agreement, or is award-free. Getting this wrong cascades into pay, leave and conditions.
- ✓Pay rates, penalties and allowances. Base rates, casual loading, overtime, weekend and public-holiday penalties, and industry allowances must all match the award.
- ✓The National Employment Standards (NES). The 11 minimum entitlements — from maximum hours to leave to notice — apply to all employees and can’t be contracted out of.
- ✓Written employment contracts. Every employee should have a current agreement that reflects their actual role, classification and conditions.
- ✓Record-keeping and payslips. You must keep specific employee records for seven years and issue compliant payslips within one day of payment.
- ✓The Fair Work Information Statement. This must be given to every new employee (plus the Casual Employment Information Statement for casuals).
- ✓Workplace policies. Behaviour, WHS, leave and other policies that are written, current, and actually communicated to staff.
- ✓Leave entitlements. Annual, personal/carer’s, parental, long service and other leave correctly accrued and recorded.
Underpayment claims can reach back six years, and serious contraventions now carry significant penalties for businesses and, in some cases, individuals. The cost of a quiet gap compounds the longer it goes unnoticed.
How to run a simple self-audit
You don’t need a consultant to make a start. Work through the checklist one row at a time and, for each, ask three questions: Is it in place? Is it current? Can I prove it? The third question is the one most businesses fall down on — being compliant and being able to demonstrate compliance are not the same thing.
Start with the highest-risk areas for your industry. If you employ casuals on penalty rates, begin with award classification and pay. If you’ve grown quickly, begin with contracts and records, which tend to lag behind headcount.
Where businesses most often slip
- →Classifying a role under the wrong award — or assuming an employee is award-free when they aren’t.
- →Paying an annual salary that doesn’t cover the penalties and overtime the award would otherwise require.
- →Contracts that were written years ago and no longer match what the person actually does.
- →Casual employees who have become casual in name only, creating misclassification risk.
When to bring in help
If a row in the checklist makes you uneasy — or you simply can’t answer "can I prove it?" — that’s the signal to get a professional review. A structured compliance audit confirms where you stand, quantifies any exposure, and gives you a prioritised plan to close the gaps in the order that lowers risk fastest.
- ✓Every employee is covered by an award, an agreement, or is award-free — confirm which.
- ✓Being compliant and being able to prove it are two different things; aim for both.
- ✓Underpayment exposure can reach back years, so quiet gaps get more expensive over time.
- ✓Start your self-audit with the highest-risk area for your industry.
Book a free 30-minute Risk Review, or take the 2-minute Workforce Scorecard to see where you stand.
This guide is general information for Australian employers, not legal advice. For advice on your specific situation, book a Risk Review or speak to a qualified adviser.