Resources
Free tools and guidesfor small business.
Practical HR and payroll resources, designed to help you understand your obligations and make better decisions for your business.
Insights
HR & Payroll Insights
Practical articles for small business owners.
- 01Payday Super: what changed on 1 July 2026 and what to do nowSuper now moves with every pay run, not once a quarter. What that changes in practice, and how to tell whether your setup is ready.Read →
- 02The National Employment Standards, explained for small businessThe eleven minimum entitlements that apply to every employee in the national system, in plain English.Read →
- 03How to find the right modern award (and why it decides everything else)Award coverage sits underneath every pay rate, penalty and allowance you owe. Here is how to work it out properly.Read →
- 04Annualised salaries: how to set one up so it stands upA salary only covers award entitlements if you can prove it does. Here is what proving it looks like.Read →
- 05Record-keeping and pay slips: what you must keep, and for how longThe unglamorous obligation that decides how every other payroll question gets resolved.Read →
- 06Casual employment: the definition, the loading and the conversion pathwayWhat makes someone genuinely casual since the 2024 changes, and what to do when they are not casual any more.Read →
- 07Annual leave: the rules small businesses most often get wrongAccrual, cashing out, directing leave, excessive balances and what happens at termination.Read →
- 08Personal and carer’s leave: how the ten days actually workAccrual, evidence, part-time entitlements and the difference between sick leave and carer’s leave.Read →
- 09The right to disconnect: what it means for a small businessEmployees can reasonably refuse contact outside working hours. What that does and does not stop you doing.Read →
- 10The positive duty: what employers must now actually doHaving a policy is no longer enough. What proactive prevention looks like in a small business.Read →
- 11The workplace policies every small business should actually haveA short, honest list — and why a policy nobody has read is worse than no policy at all.Read →
- 12Writing a position description that actually helps you hireMost position descriptions are a list of tasks nobody reads again. Here is what a useful one contains.Read →
- 13Onboarding: what the first 30 days should actually coverThe compliance items you must complete, and the practical ones that decide whether someone stays.Read →
- 14Probation periods: what they actually do, and what they do notA probation period is not a legal free pass. Here is what it gives you and where the real protection comes from.Read →
- 15How to run a performance conversation that actually goes somewhereMost performance conversations fail before they start. A simple structure that keeps them useful.Read →
- 16Managing underperformance: a fair process, step by stepHow to address performance properly so that improvement is genuinely possible and the process holds up if it is not.Read →
- 17Ending employment: a step-by-step process for small businessNotice, final pay, the meeting itself and the paperwork — in the order they need to happen.Read →
- 18Unfair dismissal and the Small Business Fair Dismissal CodeWhat the Code gives a small business employer, what it requires in return, and what it does not cover.Read →
- 19Redundancy: when it is genuine, and what you actually oweConsultation, redeployment, the small business exemption, and the mistakes that make a redundancy unfair.Read →
- 20When does a small business actually need HR support?The honest answer is not "at ten employees". Here are the moments that genuinely change the answer.Read →
- 215 payroll mistakes small businesses make (and how to avoid them)The five issues that come up again and again in payroll reviews, and how to avoid them.Read →
- 22Super: what every small business owner needs to knowThe essentials, plus the Payday Super change that reshaped super obligations in 2026.Read →
- 23Do I need to pay penalty rates?Penalty rates, when they apply, and how to know which award covers your team.Read →
- 24When do I need an employment contract?Why a clear written contract protects both you and your team, and what it should cover.Read →
- 25Employee vs contractor: what’s the difference and why does it matter?The 2024 rule change, what actually decides it, and why getting it wrong is so costly.Read →
- 26What is the Fair Work Act and what does it mean for my business?A plain-English guide to the law that sets the baseline for employing people in Australia.Read →