46 things on this site are widely repeated but do not come with an official source. Someone said them, and we can prove they said them - but that is not the same as the rule saying so.
This is not a list of lies. Plenty of it turns out to be true. We went and checked each one against the official rules, and each says below what we found.
We checked 31 of them one at a time. 2 are contradicted by the official rule, 15 hold up, 1 we could not find anything official for, and 13 have a real rule behind them that says something narrower. 1 we have not checked yet, so they say nothing either way.
These appear across 12 of 16 topics. Everything else on this site - 483 answers - comes with an official source attached. How we decide which is which.
Widely repeated, and the official rule says otherwise
The most useful part of this page. For each of these we found the rule itself saying the opposite, usually in one sentence, often on the very page the advice is explaining.
The National Employment Standards give both permanent and casual employees five days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave each year.
The entitlements contained in a modern award cannot be less than the national minimum wage or the National Employment Standards.
Award wages less than the National Minimum Wage The minimum award wages in some awards may now be less than the National Minimum Wage. For example, some awards contain introductory pay rates for new employees in their industry. These rates usually only apply for a limited time until an employee progresses to the next level. If an employee is covered by an award or agreement, the minimum wage set out in the award will apply instead of the National Minimum Wage.Fair Work Ombudsman2026-08-07
How many of the above we came across in each publication. This is not a ranking and not a judgement of anyone: we read some publications more than others, so they appear more often, and none of this says anything about the rest of what they publish.
What is established: All employees, including full-time, part-time and casual employees, are entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year, and the National Employment Standards minimum applies even if an agreement provides less; the earlier five-day unpaid family and domestic violence leave entitlement is no longer available as at 1 August 2023, although one employer guide from 2025 still lists a five-day unpaid entitlement. For sick and carer's leave, full-time employees are entitled to 10 days of paid personal/carer's leave per year of service, pro-rata for part-time employees, accruing progressively and carrying over from year to year; casual employees are not entitled to paid sick leave but can take 2 days of unpaid carer's leave per permissible occasion, and cannot take that unpaid leave when they could instead take paid personal/carer's leave. An employee can take as much paid sick or carer's leave as they have accumulated, and a registered agreement, award or contract can set different entitlements but not less than the NES minimum. Employees must give notice as soon as practicable, state the period or expected period, and provide evidence that would satisfy a reasonable person if the employer asks; paid personal/carer's leave is paid at the base rate of pay for ordinary hours in the period, and a public holiday falling within the period is not counted as paid personal/carer's leave.
Employsure's National Employment Standards guide states that the NES include five days unpaid family and domestic violence leave for both permanent and casual employees per year.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
as well as five days unpaid family and domestic violence leave for both permanent and casual employees per year.
Employsure's sick leave guide states that in Australia…
full-time employees are entitled to 10 days of paid sick and carer's leave per year.
part-time employees receive a pro-rata amount of paid sick and carer's leave based on their hours of work.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
In Australia, full-time employees are entitled to 10 days of paid sick and carer's leave per year. Part-time employees receive a pro-rata amount based on their hours of work.
What is established: A modern award is a legal document that outlines minimum pay rates and conditions of employment, and most awards are industry-based and generally considered before occupational awards. The Fair Work Commission started reviewing most awards in 2014 and confirmed in October 2022 that it had finalised its review; most updated awards started taking effect at different stages throughout 2020. Awards have a coverage clause, usually clause 4, outlining who the award covers and does not cover, but coverage for some jobs or industries is not always clear, and an employer can be covered by more than one award depending on the jobs employees do. A modern award cannot exclude the National Employment Standards or provide conditions less than the NES, and an employment contract cannot provide less than the legal minimum entitlements in the NES or the employee's award or agreement; a person must not contravene a term of a modern award, but a modern award imposes no obligations unless it applies to the person, and it does not apply to particular employment when an enterprise agreement applies to that employment or at a time when the employee is a high income employee.
Employsure asserts that the National Employment Standards, which outline 11 minimum standards for employment, apply to all employees in the national workplace relations system who are covered by a modern award or registered agreement.
vendor
2 quotes from 2 sources
which outlines 11 minimum standards for employment that apply to all employees in the national workplace relations system whether or not they are covered by an award or registered agreement
Who Do National Employment Standards Apply To? All employees in the national workplace relations system under the Fair Work Act are covered, irrespective of their award, agreement or contract (however, only certain entitlements apply to casual employees).
Employsure asserts that the entitlements contained in a modern award cannot be less than the national minimum wage and the National Employment Standards.
medium confidencevendor
1 quote from 1 source
The entitlements contained in a modern award cannot be less than the national minimum wage and the National Employment Standards
Employsure asserts that determining modern award coverage can be difficult because different modern awards may apply depending on the industry in which a business operates and the job types within the business.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
Different modern awards may apply depending on the industry in which your business operates, and the job types within your business, which can make it difficult to determine modern award coverage.
must not exclude the National Employment Standards that commenced on 1 January 2010.
must not provide for any less generous entitlements.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
The NES commenced on 1 January 2010 and creates safety net entitlements for all national system employees. Modern awards and enterprise agreements may contain ancillary and supplementary terms but must not exclude the NES or provide for any less generous entitlements.
What is established: A person is a casual employee only if, at the start of employment, the relationship has no firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work and they are entitled to a casual loading or specific casual pay rate under an award, registered agreement or employment contract; this is assessed on the real substance, practical reality and true nature of the relationship, so a regular pattern of work can still be casual, and a person who starts as a casual remains casual until status is changed under Division 4A of Part 2-2, by FWC order under section 66MA or 739, under a fair work instrument, or by accepting another non-casual offer and starting work. Casual employees do not get most types of paid leave, notice of termination or redundancy pay even if they work regularly for a long time; under the NES they get 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave per year and access to a pathway to become permanent, and employers must give a Casual Employment Information Statement before or as soon as possible after start and at set times (for non-small business employers, after 6 and 12 months and then every 12 months); another source lists unpaid carer's, compassionate, family and domestic violence, and community service leave, and its family and domestic violence leave statement conflicts with the Fair Work Ombudsman's paid 10 days. The pathway to permanent employment changed from casual conversion to employee choice on 26 August 2024; a casual employed immediately before that date could issue a notice from 26 February 2025 if not employed by a small business, and from 26 August 2025 if employed by a small business, with older conversion pathways remaining available for some casuals up to 26 August 2025; the exception preventing a casual from being engaged on a fixed term contract does not apply to casual employees employed on a fixed term contract before 26 August 2024. For unfair dismissal, a period of casual service counts toward the period of employment only if the employment was as a regular casual and the employee had a reasonable expectation of continuing employment on a regular and systematic basis; casual shifts can be cancelled or the employee sent home early if not needed, and in theory a casual may decline work but may find refusal difficult when relying on future offers; it is illegal for an employer to dismiss or threaten to dismiss an employee to engage them as a casual to do the same or mostly the same work.
What is established: Under the Fair Work Act, an employer must give written notice of the day of termination, and that day cannot be before the notice is given. The employer must either give notice at least as long as the NES minimum period based on the employee's length of continuous service on the day notice is given, or pay payment in lieu equal to the full amount the employee would have been paid for the hours they would have worked until the end of that period; if the employer pays out the notice, the payment must be made before or on the day of termination, employment ends on the employee's last working day, and leave and other entitlements stop accruing. The notice period starts the day after the employer tells the employee, ends on the last day of employment, and is not extended by leave or public holidays; employees over 45 with at least 2 years of continuous service get an extra week. Serious misconduct removes the notice requirement, and casuals are not entitled to written notice under the NES, but an employment ending during a probation period does not remove the notice entitlement; an award, agreement or employment contract may require a longer minimum notice period than the NES, and an employment contract cannot provide for less than the NES, the relevant award or agreement.
Employsure asserts that an employer must legally notify a retrenched employee in writing and give them the correct notice period or payment in lieu of notice.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
Legally you must notify the retrenched employee in writing and give them the correct notice period (or payment in lieu of notice).
Employsure asserts that how much notice an employer should give an employee depends on…
the nature of the employee's employment.
how long the employee has been employed in the business.
the terms contained within the Fair Work Act, or applicable Modern Award or Enterprise Agreement.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
How much notice the employer should give the employee depends on the nature of the employee’s employment, and how long they have been employed in the business and the terms contained within the Fair Work Act, or applicable Modern Award or Enterprise Agreement.
Employsure asserts that employers who fail to give an adequate notice period might be in breach of a modern award, an employment agreement, the National Employment Standards or a common law employment contract.
medium confidencevendor
1 quote from 1 source
Employers who fail to give adequate notice might be in breach of: A modern award An employment agreement The National Employment Standards (NES) A common law employment contract
What is established: All employees except casual employees accrue paid annual leave under the National Employment Standards from their first day of employment, including during any probation period; full-time and part-time employees get 4 weeks a year based on their ordinary hours, and the entitlement accumulates from year to year. Annual leave is taken for a period agreed between the employee and employer, the employer must not unreasonably refuse a request, and payment is at the employee's base rate for ordinary hours; a public holiday falling during annual leave is treated as not being annual leave, and an employment contract cannot provide less than these minimums. Paid annual leave cannot be cashed out except under cashing-out terms in a modern award or enterprise agreement or an agreement with an award/agreement-free employee, and an employer cannot force or pressure an employee to cash out leave. Unused annual leave is paid out when employment ends at the amount that would have been payable had the leave been taken, and an employer cannot force an employee to take annual leave during the notice period.
Employsure asserts that if a public holiday takes place during an agreed period of unpaid leave, the employee is not entitled to receive pay for the public holiday.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
If a public holiday takes place during an agreed period of unpaid leave, the employee is not entitled to receive pay for the public holiday.
Employsure asserts that the process for requesting unpaid leave is normally set out in an award, registered agreement, company policy or employment contract.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
The process for requesting unpaid leave is normally set out in an award, registered agreement, company policy or employment contract
What is established: Most employees' entitlement to long service leave comes from state or territory laws, not from the Fair Work Act itself; the Fair Work Act only confers long service leave under applicable award-derived long service leave terms. State and territory laws do not apply where a federal pre-modern award that would have covered the employer and employees before 1 January 2010 contains long service leave entitlements, and most modern awards do not contain an entitlement to long service leave. In Victoria, the Victorian Government states that most workers qualify after at least 7 years continuous service with one employer and accrue one week for every 60 weeks, with casual, seasonal and specified-term employees covered, and that a contract cannot lawfully avoid full payment or provide a lesser entitlement; Employsure states there is no pro-rata leave in Victoria, so the positions conflict. Long-serving casuals are eligible in some state and territory schemes, all states and territories have portable long service leave legislation for some industries, there is a national portable scheme for coal mining, and New South Wales is stated to provide 2 months after 10 years of continuous service.
Employsure asserts that employees in Queensland who are not covered by other long service leave arrangements are mostly covered by the Industrial Relations Act 1999.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
Employees in Queensland who are not covered by a pre-modern award long service leave terms, portable long service leave, or long service leave schemes in a contract, enterprise agreement, policy, or specific legislation are mostly covered by the Industrial Relations Act 1999 (the Act).
Employsure asserts that most modern awards do not contain an entitlement to long service leave.
medium confidencevendor
1 quote from 1 source
the entitlement to long service leave is mostly derived from State or Territory legislation, as most Modern Award s do not contain an entitlement to long service leave
What is established: Redundancy occurs when a business no longer needs an employee’s job to be done by anyone, and a dismissal is a genuine redundancy only if the employer no longer required the job because of changes in operational requirements and complied with any applicable award or enterprise agreement consultation obligation; it is not genuine if redeployment within the employer’s enterprise or an associated entity’s enterprise would have been reasonable. An employee may be entitled to redundancy pay under the National Employment Standards if they have at least one year of continuous service and their employer employs at least 15 people, but most small business employers do not have to pay it; redundancy pay is calculated at the employee’s base rate of pay for ordinary hours, excluding loadings, overtime and penalty rates, and unpaid leave does not count towards continuous service. The Fair Work Ombudsman states an employer considering making 15 or more employees redundant must give Services Australia written notification as soon as possible, while Employsure states the Fair Work Act requires notification when the number is over 15, so the threshold is not settled between them; if a redundancy is genuine, the employee cannot get an unfair dismissal remedy.
Employsure asserts that a business offering voluntary redundancy may be able to forego the protracted consultation processes that are required to effect a genuine redundancy.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
The business may be able to forego the protracted consultation processes that are required to effect a genuine redundancy.
Employsure asserts that voluntary redundancy is ideally subject to a formal Deed of Release.
Employsure asserts that a formal Deed of Release for voluntary redundancy generally prevents the employee from bringing a successful claim against the employer.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
ideally subject to a formal Deed of Release which ends the employment relationship and generally prevents the employee from bringing a successful claim against the employer
Redundancy is claimed by Employsure to require formal notification to Services Australia under the Fair Work Act 2009 when the number of retrenched workers is over 15.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
If the number of retrenched workers is over 15, the Fair Work Act 2009 demands that you give formal notification to Services Australia.
What is established: There is no legislative rule requiring a set number of written warnings before dismissal for poor performance, and the Fair Work Commission benchbook states there is no rule that an employee must receive three written warnings. But when a dismissal is due to underperformance, the Commission considers whether the employee was warned about their performance before the dismissal, and the warning must identify the relevant performance concern and make clear that poor performance may result in termination; a mere exhortation to improve is not enough. Serious misconduct may result in immediate termination, and a small business employer's dismissal is consistent with the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code if the employer complied with that Code. One employer guide describes two verbal warnings and a written warning before ending employment, but that sequence is not a legislative requirement.
Regarding warnings before dismissal, Employsure's insubordination guide states that…
discipline for insubordination could take the form of a written warning, verbal warning or a formal warning.
in the case of serious misconduct the discipline might result in immediate termination.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
This could take the form of a written warning, verbal warning or a formal warning. In the case of serious misconduct, the discipline might be more severe and could result in immediate termination.
Employsure's insubordination guide states that insubordinate employees placed onto a performance management plan who fail to improve can be terminated for repeated misconduct.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
Insubordinate employees who are placed onto a performance management plan but fail to improve can also be terminated for repeated misconduct
What is established: Adverse action is unlawful if taken for a prohibited reason, and section 340 of the Fair Work Act 2009 prohibits taking adverse action because a person has or has not exercised a workplace right, or proposes or proposes not to exercise a workplace right, or to prevent its exercise; a workplace right includes the ability to initiate or participate in a process or proceedings under a workplace law or instrument and an employee's ability to make a complaint or inquiry in relation to their employment, and if an application alleges such a reason or intent, that reason or intent is presumed unless the person taking the action proves otherwise. A general protections claim can be made even without a dismissal, but a dismissal application must be made within 21 days of the dismissal taking effect, late applications are generally not accepted, and most extension requests, about 80%, are denied; a person cannot make a general protections dismissal application if they have already made an unfair dismissal or anti-discrimination application. The Fair Work Commission's role is limited to dispute resolution, not investigating or deciding who is right or wrong; if no agreement is reached it issues a certificate, after which the applicant has 14 days to apply to the Federal Court, the Fair Work division of the Federal Circuit and Family Court, or jointly to the Commission for arbitration, and arbitration is rare and requires all parties' agreement. The right to disconnect has applied from 26 August 2024 for employees of non-small business employers and from 26 August 2025 for employees of small business employers; the sources conflict on whether general protections offer protection from unfair dismissal, with the Commission stating general protections dismissal is not the same as unfair dismissal and Employsure asserting they offer national system employees protection from unfair dismissal.
Employsure asserts that an employee who is not eligible to apply for unfair dismissal under the general protections provisions can apply for wrongful termination.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
If an employee is not eligible to apply for unfair dismissal under the general protections provisions, they can apply for wrongful termination.
What is established: To be eligible to apply for unfair dismissal, an employee must have worked for the employer for at least 6 months, or 12 months if the employer is a small business, meaning a business with fewer than 15 employees counted at the earliest of when the employee is told their employment has been terminated or given notice of termination. The period of employment is the employee's continuous service with that employer, but casual service counts only if the employee was a regular casual with a reasonable expectation of continuing employment on a regular and systematic basis. After a change of business ownership, service with the first employer may count with the second employer, unless the old and new employers are not associated entities and the new employer informed the employee in writing before the new employment started that the old service would not be recognised. Employees on probation continue to receive the same entitlements as employees not on probation, and an employee who does not pass probation is still entitled to notice when employment ends; the employer usually decides the probation length, which often ranges from 3 to 6 months from the start of employment.
What is established: All employees working in Australia are entitled to a minimum wage. From 1 July 2026 the National Minimum Wage is $26.44 per hour or $1004.90 per week, calculated on a week of 38 ordinary hours, and it applies to employees not covered by an award or registered agreement; where an employee is covered by an award or agreement, the minimum wage set out in the award applies instead. From 1 July 2026 minimum award wages increase by 4.75%, with the lowest rate in any award that applies to ongoing employment at least $1004.90 per week or $26.44 per hour and any entry-level rate that applies to the first 6 months or less of employment at least $978.10 per week or $25.74 per hour; the National Minimum Wage Order 2026 takes effect for a particular employee from the start of the employee's first full pay period that starts on or after 1 July 2026, and an employer of an employee to whom the national minimum wage applies must pay a base rate of pay that at least equals that wage, while the casual loading for award/agreement free employees is 25 per cent. From 1 January 2025 intentional underpayment of wages or entitlements can be a criminal offence, but this does not include honest mistakes, and a small business employer cannot be referred for criminal prosecution if the Fair Work Ombudsman is satisfied the employer has complied with the Voluntary Small Business Wage Compliance Code; the Fair Work Commission reviews the National Minimum Wage and minimum award pay rates each year, and most changes begin on the first full pay period on or after 1 July.
Employsure's Australian employment law guide states that the act serves to provide a safety net of minimum entitlements such as a national minimum wage increase, and the National Employment Standards.
vendor
1 quote from 1 source
The act serves to provide a safety net of minimum entitlements such as a national minimum wage increase , and the National Employment Standards (the NES) with further employment conditions and entitlements set out in Modern Awards or enterprise or other registered agreements.
What is established: Under the Fair Work Act, an unfair dismissal application must be made within 21 days after the dismissal took effect, a general protections dismissal application must be made within 21 days after the alleged dismissal took effect, and an unlawful termination application must be received within 21 days after the employment was terminated. The 21-day clock starts on the day after the dismissal takes effect, and the dismissal usually takes effect on the last day of the employment contract, which may be later than the last day at work; weekends and public holidays count, but if the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday the deadline changes to the next business day, and the Fair Work Commission must receive the document by 11:59 pm on the deadline. Late applications are generally not accepted and about 80 per cent of extension requests are denied; an extension may be allowed only for exceptional circumstances, and not knowing the deadline or a post or courier delay is not accepted. After a general protections certificate is issued, the person has 14 days to apply to the Federal Court, the Fair Work division of the Federal Circuit and Family Court, or jointly to the Commission for arbitration, and a respondent to a general protections dismissal application has 7 days to respond.