Payroll compliance · Industries

Payroll compliance: Children’s Services

Children's services payroll, done properly. Qualification-based pay points, non-contact time, and late pickup overtime, sorted every pay run, so nobody's short-changed for staying back.

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Modern award Children's Services Award
MA000120

Modern award compliance

Getting the award right isn't optional

Employers must pay employees in accordance with the Children's Services 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

Long day care centres Family day care Outside school hours care Preschools Occasional care services

What it sets

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

Biggest pitfalls

Where children's 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.

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.

Employment Hero Payroll

Automatically applies modern award and enterprise agreement rules year-round — timesheet import, gross-to-net reporting, leave accruals, super and ATO reporting.

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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 Children’s Services Award, so your obligations are met automatically — from employee information to pay runs to government reporting.

100% compliant with the Children’s Services 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 Children’s Services Award — entirely jargon-free, so you can understand your rights and obligations in plain English.

Children's Services Cover MockUp July 2025