Award classification and salary tools

Set an all-in salary you know clears the award.

Paying above the award feels safe until you look closer. The allowances and penalties that sit under the headline rate can quietly pull a strong salary below the floor once the roster is counted. This takes what a role actually does, places it on the right level, then turns it into a weekly and annual salary that clears the award across the whole roster. The rates feed live from the Fair Work database and stay current so the number holds and you can get back to your day.

Classification
Maintenance fitter
Clear
Level 4
Mining MA000011 · trade rate
All-purpose ordinary$31.04 / hr
All-in salary checkClears the award
Live from Fair Work · classify, cost and annualise
ManufacturingClerksConstructionHospitalityRetailMiningmore awards added over time
Awards do not classify by job title. They classify by what the role actually does and that is what sets the pay. Get the level a notch wrong and the gap quietly compounds every pay run until someone finds it. Paying above the award is not a safe harbour either. The award carries allowances and penalties that sit under the headline rate so a strong salary can still fall short once the hours and conditions are counted. None of this is hard to get right. It takes care and the current numbers in front of you. That is what this does, on the real award, with the rates as they stand today.
The salary calculator

Where the tools earn their keep: a salary that clears the award.

A level and an hourly rate is the easy half and plenty of free tools stop there. Most people need a number they can put in a contract. So each tool annualises the role, turning the level into a weekly and annual salary that covers the award across the whole roster, with every penalty and loading counted.

Level to salary

One click, no re-typing

Place the role, then hit Annualise. The level and its live rate carry straight into the salary calculator.

The real roster

Weekly and annual, costed properly

Enter the actual roster and it works out the weekly and annual salary, with evening, weekend, public holiday and overtime loadings counted across the year.

Salary check

Know it clears the award

It shows what the award would pay for that roster across the year so you can set an all-in weekly or annual salary and know it clears the floor.

What you get

Six award tools, each built on its own award, not a generic calculator.

Place the role

Right level, with a reason

Tick what the role does, mark the principal duties and it places the role with a clear, borderline or refer flag and a printable evidence trail.

Live rates

Always current

Base rates feed live from the Fair Work pay database so they update themselves each July. No stale spreadsheet to maintain.

True cost

Penalties and loadings

A penalty card for permanent and casual: evening and night, Saturday, Sunday, public holiday and overtime, on the real award multipliers.

Peace of mind

Compliance traps

Each tool carries the everyday traps for its award, the ones that trip people up beyond the classification itself. You see them up front.

Six awards

The high-volume ones

Manufacturing, Clerks, Construction, Hospitality, Retail and Mining today, with more added over time at no extra cost while you subscribe.

Made to hand over

Evidence, not opinions

Every placement prints to a one-page record you can drop into a file, a review or a pay decision, showing the duties, the reasoning and the source.

How it works

Three steps, a couple of minutes a role.

1

Pick the award and the role

Choose the award, then the stream where the role sits. Enter the basics.

2

Tick what it does

Tick every task the role performs, then mark the core duties that define it.

3

Get the level, the rate and the traps

It returns the level, the live rate, the penalty card and the compliance traps, ready to print.

Then one more click annualises the role, turning the level into a weekly and annual salary that clears the award across the whole roster.

Pricing

Every tool in one subscription. Cancel whenever you like.

Monthly

$39 / month
Billed monthly. Cancel anytime.
  • Every award placement tool
  • Weekly and annual salary calculator
  • Live rates and penalty cards
  • Compliance traps for each award
  • Printable evidence trail
  • New awards added while you subscribe
Start monthly
Most popular

Annual

$390 / year
About $32.50 a month. Two months free.
  • Everything in the monthly plan
  • Two months free versus paying monthly
  • One invoice a year for the books
  • Level, salary calculator and penalty cards
  • New awards added while you subscribe
Start annual
Need to go deeper than an award? The EA review reads an enterprise agreement against the award and the agreement it replaced and flags the clauses that do not say what people assume. Separate from the award tools.
I built these because the same job kept coming up and it was always slower than it should be. Take what a person actually does, find where it lands in the award, then work out what it really costs. The tools do that in a few clicks, on the real award, with the rates kept current. You get an answer you can stand behind and a short record of how you got there. When a role could sit at either of two levels, the tool flags it and points you to a second opinion instead of pretending to be sure.
Twenty-five years in HR and IR across mining, construction and manufacturing.
Ryan Carrington, Principal. Decision support, not legal advice.
Questions

The usual ones.

How current are the rates?

They pull live from the Fair Work Modern Awards Pay Database every time you use a tool so they reflect the current operative rates, including the annual July increase, without you doing anything.

Can it work out a salary, not just an hourly rate?

Yes. Every award tool has a salary calculator built in. Place the role, then annualise it. Enter the roster and it returns the weekly and annual salary that covers the award once evening, weekend, public holiday and overtime loadings are counted across the year so you can set an all-in salary and know it clears what the award would pay.

Which awards are covered?

Manufacturing, Clerks, Construction, Hospitality, Retail and Mining today. More of the high-volume awards are added over time and they are included while you subscribe.

Does this confirm which award applies to my staff?

No and this matters. First confirm the role is even covered by the award, whether the employer is in the state or federal system and whether an enterprise agreement applies instead. The tools place a role once you know the right award. If you are not sure which award covers you, check that before relying on a placement.

Is it legal advice?

No. It is decision support to help you classify and pay correctly and to keep a record of your reasoning. For a contested or high-risk case, get advice.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. Monthly cancels anytime and runs to the end of the paid month. Annual runs for the year you paid for.

Get started

Place your next role in a couple of minutes.

For a few dollars a month you place a role, see what it truly costs and keep a dated record you can stand behind if anyone ever asks. A quiet sense check you keep in your pocket and tax-deductible at that.