The pay and conditions for many employees are in their enterprise agreement or award. A 'safety net’ also gives certain employees a minimum wage and other benefits. Employers must give their employees at least their minimum entitlements.
On this page:
If you believe you are not getting the right pay, or you don’t understand your award or agreement, you can ask for help from the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Watch this short video to learn about pay and entitlements in the Fair Work system and the different roles of the Fair Work Ombudsman and Fair Work Commission.
Download our written summary Understanding employee pay and entitlements .
Enterprise agreements usually set the minimum pay and conditions for the employees they cover. For example:
Find an agreement that covers you or your business.
Understand more about agreements, including what they are and how they are made, in the Agreements section.
An award (‘modern award’) probably sets your pay and conditions if you don't have an enterprise agreement. These include:
To view an award:
To understand how we create, change or revoke awards, see the Awards section.
Each year we review the national minimum wage and minimum wages in modern awards. Employers must generally pay the new rate that may be changed by the review in the first full pay period that starts on or after 1 July.
The National Employment Standards are 11 standards that contain the minimum terms and conditions for employees in the national workplace relations system.
An employee cannot receive less than the National Employment Standards, even if they have an award or agreement.