Modern Award Compliance Review Checklist for Real Estate
A detailed checklist for reviewing compliance with the specific requirements of the Modern Award or Enterprise Agreement that applies to your employees.
Supports Real Estate Institute compliance, trust account management requirements, and state property legislation documentation.
Complete Checklist
- 1Confirm the correct Award applies to each employee based on their role and industryCritical
- 2Verify each employee is classified at the correct level within the AwardCritical
- 3Check that base pay rates meet or exceed the Award minimum for each classificationCritical
- 4Verify overtime rates are calculated correctly per the Award provisions
- 5Check that penalty rates for weekends, public holidays, and shifts are correctly applied
- 6Review allowance payments against Award requirements for the role
- 7Verify that leave loading is paid where required by the Award
- 8Check that hours of work provisions including spans, breaks, and rostering complyCritical
- 9Review part-time employee arrangements for compliance with minimum hour guarantees
- 10Confirm casual loading is applied correctly and casual conversion has been offered
- 11Check that notice of termination and redundancy provisions comply with the Award
- 12Review any individual flexibility agreements for validity and compliance
- 13Verify that the Award is accessible to all employees as required
- 14Check that any annualised salary arrangements properly offset Award entitlements
- 15Contract the review findings and remediate any identified non-complianceCritical
Frequently Asked Questions
What should we do if we discover we have been underpaying employees?
Act quickly. Calculate the full amount of underpayment for each affected employee including interest. Seek legal advice before making disclosures. Consider making a voluntary disclosure to the Fair Work Ombudsman, which can result in more lenient treatment. Pay the outstanding amounts promptly and implement changes to prevent future underpayments. Contract all remediation steps taken.
How do we determine which Modern Award applies to our employees?
Awards are primarily determined by the industry in which the employer operates, not the role of the individual employee. However, some occupational awards may apply to specific roles. Use the Fair Work Ombudsman Award finder tool as a starting point. If multiple Awards could apply, seek advice from an employment relations specialist. Incorrect Award classification is one of the most common compliance errors.
How do annualised salary arrangements interact with Award compliance?
An annualised salary can be used to satisfy Award obligations, but the annual amount must be high enough to cover all Award entitlements the employee would receive including overtime, penalties, and allowances. You must conduct a reconciliation at least annually to verify the annualised salary is sufficient. If it falls short, a top-up payment is required. Keep detailed records of hours worked to support the reconciliation.
Need help implementing these checks into your daily operations?
Our team can build custom checklists integrated into your daily operations workflow.