Finding employment law
This page has information about how you can find out your correct pay, conditions and entitlements. It also has a link to the Fair Work Act, which is the law that covers national system employees.
Check your pay and conditions
To check if you have been paid the right amounts of money and given other things you are entitled to (for example, the notice period your employer must give you if they want to terminate your employment), you should look at:
Your employment contract
If you have a written contract, check to see what it says about your wage, leave payments and leave loading, termination payments and payment in lieu of notice. Your contract must give you at least the same or better conditions as the National Employment Standards or any modern award that covers you.
Any award that covers you
An award sets out minimum pay and conditions for people in an industry or profession. You can find out what award covers you by searching on the
Fair Work Ombudsman website or by calling the Fair Work Information Line on
131394. If you call the Fair Work Information Line you can use the 'Before you call checklist' to help you prepare and record the details of your call, available on the
Fair Work Ombudsman website.
Another tool called "Paycheck Plus" is also available at the
Fair Work Ombudsman website. It asks you some questions to help work out which award applies to you, and then calculates what you should be paid under that award.
An enterprise agreement that covers you
Enterprise agreements are agreements between an employer and all employees who work for that employer. An enterprise agreement needs to be approved by the Fair Work Commission.
Enterprise agreements provide information about the terms and conditions of employment and replace any award that may have applied to employees at that workplace.
The minimum wage in an enterprise agreement cannot be less than the minimum wage in the relevant award.
You can search for an enterprise agreement using the Fair Work Commission website. It can help if you know the name of the agreement or the agreement ID number.
The National Employment Standards
The National Employment Standards have minimum conditions that cover workers in the national system. You can view a copy of the National Employment Standards at the
Fair Work Ombudsman website.
If you are trying to work out how much leave you are entitled to, there is a "Leave Calculator" available at the
Fair Work Ombudsman website.
The Fair Work Act
The Fair Work Act is the law that covers industrial relations for many people working in Australia.
- Part 2-2 (which has sections 59 to 131) contains the National Employment Standards (NES)
- Part 3-1 (which has sections 334 to 378) deals with general protections.
- Part 3-2 (which has sections 379 to 405) deals with unfair dismissal.
You may also need to refer to the Fair Work Regulations.
Read the Fair Work Act and Fair Work Regulations on the
Fair Work Commission website.
If you need help understanding how this information applies to you, you should get
legal advice.