When installing an award update, there are several options that allow you to tailor the update to your specific needs. The full list of options is as follows:
- Update rule sets
- Preserve custom rules: will only appear if custom rules have been created and activated within the award's pay condition rule set and the option 'Update rule sets' is set to "Yes"
- Preserve disabled rules: will only appear if one or more rules within the award's pay condition rule set have been deactivated (this does not include custom rules that have been deactivated)
- Update pay rates
- Re-apply leave allowance templates to linked employees
- Preserve custom work types: will only appear if an award work type setting has been customised
- Preserve custom leave allowance templates: will only appear if an award leave allowance template setting has been customised
- Preserve custom pay categories: will only appear if an award pay category setting has been customised, including where a custom "Allowance - Other" pay category description has been added
- Preserve custom rule set period: will only appear if the rule set period for an award pay condition rule set has been customised
- Preserve custom employment agreements: will only appear if one or more settings in an employment agreement is customised. This excludes the 'disabled auto-progression' setting, which is managed via the preserve auto-progression settings option
- Preserve custom pay rates: will only appear if the option 'Update rule sets' is set to "Yes" and an award pay rate template has been customised
- Preserve auto-progression settings: will only appear if the 'disabled auto-progression' setting in an employment agreement is customised
Warning
The default value for all options is set to "Yes". Review each option carefully before clicking Install — you cannot revert the installation once it commences. Make sure to read the update notes for each award update so you fully understand what is involved before configuring your options.
Options discussed in detail
An award update may include changes to existing rules within a pay condition rule set, new rules within an existing pay condition rule set, or even a new pay condition rule set. We strongly suggest you always update rule sets to ensure constant compliance with the award. If, for whatever reason, you choose not to update the rule sets, you must select No before you install the award update.
This option appears if you have created custom rules within an award pay condition rule set and if you select "Yes" to the 'Update rule sets' option.
You can see what custom rules have been created by navigating into the pay condition rule set for the relevant award. A label 'custom' will be displayed next to any custom-created rule:
Upon a successful award update, the system intelligently tracks neighbouring standard award rules to keep your customisations automatically positioned exactly where they belong. If the award update:
- adds new standard rules in the rule set, your custom rules stay anchored right next to the original rules;
- results in an adjacent standard rule being removed or renamed, your custom rule will automatically shift immediately before the next surviving standard rule, or safely move to the very end of the rule set if both the rule before and after your custom rule are removed in the update.
If you have multiple custom rules grouped within the same gap, they will maintain their relative order to one another throughout the update process.
Helpful Hint
If you choose to retain any custom rules when installing the award update, we strongly suggest you review the pay condition rule set after installation is complete to ensure the custom rule(s) still make sense.
Disabling one or more rules within an award pay condition rule set means that rule will not be used when timesheets are interpreted. You can see what rules have been disabled by clicking on the pay condition rule set name and reviewing the 'Disabled Rules' field:
You can navigate into the pay condition rule set to see the full detail. The 'disabled' label will appear next to any disabled rule, and you can expand it to see full details:
Helpful Hint
If you choose to preserve any disabled rules when installing the award update, we strongly suggest you review the pay condition rule set after installation is complete to ensure it still makes sense to have the rule disabled.
We strongly suggest you always choose "Yes" to this option to ensure constant compliance with the award. If you choose not to update pay rates, you must select No before installing the award update. Note that if you choose "No", you cannot automatically update pay rates until the next award update is made available — you will need to manually update them in the interim.
There may be situations where existing award leave allowance templates are updated due to award changes — for example, the introduction of Family and Domestic Violence Leave or Unpaid Pandemic Leave. Selecting "Yes" to this setting means that leave allowance template updates will also apply to employees already linked to an existing award leave allowance template. If you choose "No", the award leave allowance template will be updated but will not take effect for existing linked employees — it will only apply to employees attached to the templates after the update has occurred.
The following award work type settings can be modified and deemed customised:
- Automatically enabled for: the award may have pre-configured settings for which employment types a work type is automatically enabled. A business may want to change this — for example, a First Aid Allowance work type pre-configured for all full time, part time and casual employees may need to be restricted to only first aid qualified employees.
- Work maps to: the award will have pre-configured mapping settings. A business may want to change this — for example, mapping a work type to an award pay category instead of the employee's primary pay category.
If any of the above settings have been customised and you wish to preserve them, choose "Yes" to this option when installing an award update.
Note
If an award work type is deleted and an award update is about to be installed, the option to preserve custom work types will not appear (unless the above settings have been customised). Deleting an award work type does not constitute a custom work type — when installing the award update, the work type will reappear. If you don't want any employee to have access to a work type, the preferred approach is to NOT delete it but instead reconfigure the automatic enabling setting so that no employment type has automatic access. This way you can preserve the custom work type setting through future updates.
The following settings within an award leave allowance template (LAT) can be modified and deemed customised:
- Leave year start date: options are employee start date, use employee setting, or a specific date. Only available when a leave category accrues based on a leave year.
- Leave loading: you can specify a pay category to be used to calculate leave loading. If none is selected, the employee's primary rate of pay is used.
- Enabled leave categories: the award may have a number of leave categories enabled per template. A business may choose to disable certain categories — for example, Rostered Day Off may not apply to all permanent employees.
- Leave category units: a business may apply a different number of accrual units — for example, applying 0.096154 hours per hour worked instead of the award-configured 0.076923.
- Leave category unit type: a business may choose a different accrual method for a leave category — for example, accruing based on standard weeks per year instead of per hour worked.
- Leave category leave loading: award settings typically have 17.5% leave loading for annual leave, but this can be overridden at a business level.
- Accrues: either 'on an ongoing basis' or 'based on a leave year'.
- Accrue in advance: available where leave accrues based on a leave year.
- Maximum accrual: you can configure a cap on the units that can accrue for a leave category.
- Carry over: available where leave accrues based on a leave year.
- Contingent period / entitlement period: appears for long service leave categories. The award will have these fields completed based on state legislation, but a business may choose to override with more favourable provisions.
Warning
If just one component listed above is customised within a LAT and you choose to preserve it, the entire LAT is deemed customised and none of it will be updated. For example, if an award update changes annual leave accrual from 0.076923 to 0.096154 hours per hour worked, but you've customised the long service leave contingent and entitlement periods and choose to preserve the LAT — the annual leave accrual update will not apply. You will need to update it manually. Alternatively, choosing not to preserve the customised LAT means the annual leave accrual will update, but your customised long service leave settings will revert to the award settings.
If a new leave category has been added to an existing award LAT, you will also be given the option to preserve the LAT when installing an award update. If you choose not to preserve, the leave category will be disabled from the award LAT and any accrual units will revert to 0.
If a business has enabled the Override option against a leave category within an award LAT (preventing the settings from being overridden), the LAT is deemed customised. If you choose not to preserve the custom LAT when installing an award update, the override setting will revert to the award setting.
The following award pay category settings can be modified and deemed customised:
- Super rate
- Rate loading
- Penalty loading
- PAYG Exempt (see note below)
- Payroll tax exempt
- Accrues leave
- Hide units on pay slip
- Payment classification
- Rate precision
If any of the above settings have been customised and you wish to preserve them, choose "Yes" to this option when installing an award update.
Note: PAYG Exempt
If a pay category has been used in a pay run, the PAYG Exempt checkbox is locked and cannot be edited — including by an award update. Whether you choose to preserve the custom pay category or not, an award update will not change the existing PAYG Exempt setting. If the pay category has not been used in a pay run, the general rules apply: preserving the custom pay category keeps the setting as-is; not preserving reverts it to the award setting.
Note: Units setting
The "Units" field of an award pay category is intentionally excluded from what is deemed customised. We strongly suggest you never modify this field, as it could jeopardise timesheet interpretation. Even if you choose to preserve custom pay categories, the "Units" setting will always revert to the award setting. If you have only changed "Units", the preserve option will not appear. The preferred solution is to create your own pay category and a custom rule within the pay condition rule set, and disable the award rule to avoid double-ups during interpretation.
Linking a non-award pay category to an award pay category does not constitute a custom pay category for award update purposes. The non-award pay category and its settings will be preserved by default.
If you delete an award pay category, an award update will reinstall it regardless of whether you choose to preserve custom pay categories — so there is no benefit to deleting award pay categories.
Each pay condition rule set has a default rule set period defined by the award.
There may be instances where a business wants the rule set period to run in line with the pay period and chooses to customise this setting. If customised, the option to preserve the rule set period will be available when installing an award update. Choosing "Yes" ensures the rule set period does not revert to the award setting.
Note
If you change the rule set period, we strongly suggest you review the rules within the pay condition rule set to ensure conditions such as period overtime are catered for under the new period. If not, you should create a custom rule to cater for this.
Each setting within an employment agreement is pre-configured, however a business may customise one or more settings to suit their work arrangements. If one or more of the following settings are overridden, this option will be triggered during an award update install:
- Rank
- Pay conditions
- Leave allowances templates
- Pay rate templates based on age, anniversary (months), anniversary (years), date of birth and anniversary date
- From/to fields for age and anniversary
- Pay rate template allocation
Within a pay rate template, a user can override the rate attached to an award pay category and/or enable a business pay category that is not part of the packaged award. Either action is deemed as customising the award pay rate template and will trigger this preserve option during the award update install process. Choosing "Yes" ensures you do not have to manually re-apply the changes after the update.
The higher of super amount configured will also be preserved if the option is selected.
Award employment agreements where pay rate templates are configured by anniversary date (in years or months) include a "disabled auto-progression" toggle. This toggle determines whether an employee's pay rate automatically progresses when the configured time has passed.
If you have overridden this toggle so that it differs from the packaged award configuration, it is considered customised. You will have the option to preserve this setting when installing an award update. Selecting "Yes" ensures your customised auto-progression setting is maintained and does not revert to the default award setting.
Overriding employee award hourly rates
There may be instances where an employee's hourly rate of pay is overridden so that the employee is paid a rate higher than the award rate for their applicable classification.
When there is an award update to install, you may see the following warning:
The employees listed in the warning are those who have overridden rates. Note that the award update will not automatically update these employees' rates, even if you have chosen 'Update pay rates'. Their rates will remain untouched and will need to be manually reviewed and updated where required to ensure no employee is being paid below the award rate.
Changing the name of award settings
Do not change the name of award work types, leave allowance templates or pay categories. Name changes are not deemed a customised setting and will revert to the award setting when an award update is installed. This is intentional — these award components are linked to and referenced in rules within the award pay condition rule set, and changing the name could result in failed interpretation.
Consequences of changing award setting external IDs
Award pay categories and work types come with pre-populated external IDs:
Pay category example:
Work type example:
These pre-populated external IDs tell the system that the item is linked to an award. Users should not change them. Customising external IDs on award pay categories or work types does not trigger the 'Preserve custom pay categories' or 'Preserve custom work types' options. If they are changed, the following consequences apply when an award update is installed:
- Any award work type whose external ID has been overridden will be recreated, causing duplicates. The recreated work type is the one needed for correct award interpretation. If you want to continue using your own external ID, you will need to either (a) delete the original work type or (b) disable the automatic enabling setting on the original. Then change the external ID of the newly created award work type. If you have unique external ID validation set up, you will need to remove the custom external ID from the original work type first.
- Any award pay category whose external ID has been overridden will be recreated, causing duplicates. The recreated pay category will be the one applied automatically when interpreting timesheets. If you want to continue using your own external ID, remove it from the original pay category and set it up on the newly created one.
- If an award work type is mapped to an award pay category whose external ID has been changed, once the award update is installed the award pay category will be recreated with the award external ID. The original pay category will still be mapped to the award work type — you will need to update the mapping to link to the newly created pay category to ensure correct timesheet interpretation.
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