Payroll compliance · Industries

Payroll compliance: Aged care

Aged care payroll, done properly. Broken shifts, weekend penalties, and allowances that shift depending on the roster: all calculated correctly, every pay run.

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Aged care worker supporting an elderly resident

Modern award Aged Care Award MA000018

Modern award compliance

Getting the award right isn't optional

Employers must pay employees in accordance with the Aged Care Award, accurately calculating pay rates, penalties and allowances, and keeping proper records. Getting it wrong, even unintentionally, has serious financial and legal consequences.

$93,900

Maximum fine per breach for underpaying the minimum wage — on top of back-payments owed.

Who the award covers

Nursing homes Hostels Residential care Home care services Day respite centres

What it sets

Minimum pay rates Penalties & overtime Allowances Leave & rostering Record-keeping

Biggest pitfalls

Where aged care providers get caught out

Non-compliance is rarely deliberate. It usually comes down to four traps:

Thin official guidance

The Fair Work website is hard to navigate, and there's little practical guidance on staying compliant.

Technical legal jargon

Awards read like legislation. Misreading a single clause is one of the most common paths to non-compliance.

Manual errors

Unintentional mistakes and inadequate systems still count as non-compliance — and still attract penalties.

Missed allowances

You can't roll allowances into a salary "chunk". Every allowance an employee qualifies for must be paid, item by item.

Two clauses that catch aged care businesses off-guard

From the Aged Care Award

Sleepover conditions

Requiring staff to sleep over triggers prescribed conditions — how long the sleepover can last, facility access and overtime rates all apply.

From the Aged Care Award

Sleepover allowance

Staff who sleep over must get free board and lodging — a separate room with a bed — plus an additional sleepover allowance, for every night.

The solution

Automated payroll, with time and attendance built in

Automated software does the interpreting for you: calculating hours worked, catching timesheet errors and generating accurate payslips, while staying current with changing regulations.

Pay Cat Payroll (powered by Employment Hero)

Pay Cat Payroll applies your award and enterprise agreement rules automatically, all year round. Timesheet import, gross-to-net reporting, leave accruals, super and ATO reporting, sorted every pay run.

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Employment Hero HR

Paperless onboarding and end-to-end people management — recruit, onboard, roster and manage your team across the whole employee lifecycle.

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How Pay Cat can help

We set it up. You run your business.

Our team lives in modern awards. We implement and manage Pay Cat Payroll (powered by Employment Hero) configured to the Aged Care Award, so your obligations are met automatically — from employee information to pay runs to government reporting.

100% compliant with the Aged Care Award

Allowances, penalties and loadings paid automatically

Award updates applied as rates change

Training, advice and support long after go-live

Know where you stand

Not sure which award covers your team?

Download our free eBook on the Aged Care Award — entirely jargon-free, so you can understand your rights and obligations in plain English.