How to check how much you should be getting paid?

A fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay has long been considered part of the Australian way of life. But ‘fair’ can be a hazy concept when it comes to wages, and it’s easy to wonder how much you should really be getting paid. We show you how to find the answer.

4 ways to check your pay is fair

1. Look up award rates

How much you should be getting paid may be set out in an award, a registered agreement or your employment contract.

If your pay is determined by an industry award, the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Pay Calculator is a handy resource. It shows base pay rates, allowances and penalty rates (including overtime) that you’re entitled to based on your situation.

With over 100 different awards operating in Australia, you may be unsure about which award you’re covered by. If that’s the case, the Pay Calculator can also help you identify the award that applies to your job or industry.

2. Check your enterprise agreement

Not all Australians have their pay determined by an award. Around one in three employees have their pay shaped by an enterprise agreement. This is where the terms of employment such as pay and work conditions are decided by employers and employees negotiating together.

If your wage or salary is determined by an enterprise agreement, you can check how much you should be getting paid by looking up the relevant enterprise agreement on the Fair Work Commission’s Find an agreement website.

3. Visit salary search sites

If your pay isn’t determined by an award or enterprise agreement, or if you’re interested in getting an idea of how much you could earn in a particular role or with a new employer, job search sites can be an up-to-date source of information on average salaries for a variety of occupations.

Job seeking website Indeed offers an online salary search tool that provides an estimate of how much you should be earning in your role – and what Australia’s top companies are paying by industry.

Another option is to head to the PayScale website for details of the median hourly rate and median annual salaries for popular jobs and different employers. If you’re thinking of moving for a job, you can use PayScale to compare salaries for different regions.

4. Review annual salary guides

Many of the larger recruitment firms in Australia produce online annual salary guides, often with sections devoted to typical salaries for a variety of roles. The salary details in these reports may not be as current as the databases on salary search sites, but the upside is plenty of information that goes above and beyond a dollar figure.

If you want to know where salaries are growing quickly, or what factors employers are looking for when giving out pay rises, a salary guide can be a good place to look. That said, these guides don’t cover every role or industry.

The Robert Half Salary Guide focuses on finance and accounting, financial services, IT, business support, marketing and human resources. It also provides a wealth of information, with salary tables divided into quartiles and major cities.

The annual Salary Guide from Robert Walters provides details of the job scene in leading markets within and outside of Australia, and is a handy source of information on salaries in a variety of industries including the legal field, plus sales and marketing.

The Hays Salary Guide shows average salaries across industries ranging from accountancy and finance to banking, construction, architecture and IT.

Why how much you are paid matters

How much you get paid can make a huge difference to job satisfaction, workplace motivation, and of course, your personal financial well-being. And it’s not just about how much goes into your hip pocket today – being underpaid can impact your well-being in retirement, as it can mean receiving less in employer-paid super contributions.

How to check if my employer is making the correct contributions to my super?

As a general rule, employees aged over 18 are entitled to employer-paid super contributions. If you’re aged under 18, you need to work more than 30 hours in the week to receive compulsory super contributions from your boss.

In the 2023 financial year, employer super contributions are set at 10.5% of ordinary time earnings (overtime payments don’t attract super contributions). This will rise to 12% from 1 July 2027. Most employers do the right thing and pay employee super contributions, but according to Industry Super Australia (ISA), around $33 billion worth of employer contributions have not been paid. So it’s worth keeping tabs on your super to know if the boss is staying up to date with your super contributions.

ISA recommends checking your last Member Statement from your super fund (or contact your fund) to confirm your employer has paid super contributions into your account for the period you are looking into. Super contributions from employers can be made quarterly, so there can be a delay between the contribution noted on your payslip actually being paid into your fund.

If it looks as though there are missing contributions, talk to your employer to check they have the correct details for your super fund account. If your employer refuses to help, you can turn to your super fund or union rep for support, or report unpaid contributions to the Tax Office, using its online tool. From here, the Tax Office will investigate the problem.

The bottom line on checking how much you should be paid

If you’ve run the numbers and decided your pay is legal but less than it should be considering your knowledge and experience, the next step is generally to discuss it with your manager or employer. This may be a stressful experience, but it can be an important conversation that gets the ball rolling towards receiving a fair pay packet.

Bear in mind, not every employer will be in a financial position to give employees a pay uptick. But you may still be able to negotiate other non-financial benefits such as flexible working hours, or remote working options that can help you save on travel costs to and from work.

Alternatively, if it turns out you’re being paid less than the legal minimum and your employer isn’t willing to resolve the issue, it may be worth seeking professional legal advice or contacting the Fair Work Ombudsman.

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