THE SHORT ANSWER
Follow the difference
back to its records.
Useful starting points include the employee’s rate and employment type, actual payable hours, weekend or time-window treatment, overtime, minimum payments and the way payroll displays earnings. A missing component can create a shortfall; a split payment or later adjustment can explain an apparent one.
Compare established expected gross components with all matching recorded gross components. Keep missing evidence visible. A different net bank deposit does not, by itself, identify an Award-pay error.
This guide focuses on hourly-pay checking under the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (MA000009). Confirm the applicable instrument and effective rules before calculating. The review areas below extend beyond WageReview’s current automated scope.
WHERE TO START
Eight places
to look more closely.
| Question | First records to check |
|---|---|
| 01 / Was the right rate selected? | Coverage, employment type, classification evidence, age where relevant and dated rate source. |
| 02 / Do paid hours match the work? | Original time entries, edits, actual breaks, opening and closing work evidence. |
| 03 / Did timing change the treatment? | Work dates and times, work location, public-holiday calendar and earnings codes. |
| 04 / Was casual loading counted correctly? | Rate basis, inclusive-rate definition and separately paid components. |
| 05 / Was overtime assessed over the right window? | Complete weeks or cycles, applicable setup, roster versions and part-time terms. |
| 06 / Does a minimum payment matter? | Employment type, attendance and engagement boundaries, continuity and day category. |
| 07 / Are other payments involved? | Duties, split-shift intervals, allowance eligibility and supporting agreements. |
| 08 / Do the payroll components reconcile? | Detailed earnings, payslip gross, reversals, adjustments and payment references. |
Use this as an investigation map. It does not establish that a particular entitlement applies or that a payment is missing.
CHECK 01
Start with the employee
and the dated rate.
Confirm the workplace-relations system, applicable Award or registered agreement, and the employee’s actual work. A venue name, job title or payroll dropdown is not enough to establish coverage or classification. Start with Fair Work’s Hospitality Award summary.
Check employment type, classification and any relevant age or training category for the work dates. Retain the reason for the selected category and investigate changes during the period. Do not quietly substitute an adult or generic rate when evidence is missing.
Use the Pay and Conditions Tool and relevant dated pay guide. A current rate table is not evidence of the correct historical rate. Check the applicable effective-date rule, including any pay-period commencement rule, before applying a change.
Keep: employment evidence, rate version, effective period and any separately assessed contractual higher-rate obligation.
CHECK 02
Reconcile actual work
and actual breaks.
Compare the roster, original timesheet, clock entries and edited payroll quantity. Investigate opening or closing work, early starts, late finishes, missing punches and duplicate entries. Planned hours and verified actual work are different evidence.
Check start and finish dates as well as times. For overnight or split shifts, retain the separate intervals. Reconcile decimal quantities carefully: 7 hours 30 minutes is 7.50 hours, not 7.30 hours.
Establish whether each break occurred and whether it was paid or unpaid. An automatic meal deduction needs supporting work records; a scheduled break is not proof it was taken. A missed or delayed break can also raise a separate payment question.
Fair Work’s missed-meal-break guidance explains that the applicable extra payment can coexist with certain other penalties and casual loading. Avoid a blanket assumption that every additional payment is absorbed into one multiplier. Check the full conditions in Award clause 16.
Keep: original intervals, actual break times, edit history, payable quantities and unresolved facts. Separate break-payment review is needed because WageReview does not currently calculate these payments.
CHECK 03
Check the date,
time window and location.
The Award’s ordinary-hours table distinguishes weekday time windows, weekends and public holidays. Weekday evening and overnight additions use a different structure from weekend percentages; see clause 29.2, Table 14.
For each segment, identify the work date, workplace-local time and applicable holiday. Use the workplace’s jurisdiction and the relevant holiday observance or substitution evidence. Do not let a pay-period label decide the treatment of every shift.
Check overnight work against the applicable allocation rule rather than assuming either one whole-shift rate or a simple midnight split. Review overtime eligibility before relying on an ordinary-hours penalty table.
As Fair Work’s penalty-rate guidance explains, entitlement depends on the applicable instrument and arrangement. Keep those arrangements visible when an expected weekend or holiday component appears absent.
Keep: dated work segments, calendar evidence, rate source and the payroll code used for each component.
CHECK 04
Find where casual
loading was paid.
Table 14’s casual percentages include casual loading. Confirm the rate basis before adding another loading or multiplying an already loaded rate.
A payroll system may show one inclusive rate or separate base, loading and premium lines. Read the earning-code definitions and combine only amounts that relate to the same work and obligation. The absence of a line called “casual loading” is a question to investigate, not a conclusion.
Check whether the employment type changed within the review period. Use the employee’s supported records for those dates rather than the status shown on today’s profile.
Keep: the rate basis, included components, matching earnings and the reason a component is counted once.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Three earnings lines.
One matching amount.
A casual Saturday payment split into components.
Assume an adult casual works Saturday 10:00–14:00: four verified payable ordinary hours. No public holiday, overtime, unpaid break, additional entitlement or special arrangement applies. The invented ordinary hourly base is $30.00; it is not a published classification rate.
| Earnings component | Calculation | Gross amount |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary base component | 4.00 × $30.00 | $120.00 |
| Casual loading component | 4.00 × $7.50 | $30.00 |
| Saturday premium component | 4.00 × $7.50 | $30.00 |
The 150% casual Saturday ordinary-hours rate is from Award clause 29.2, Table 14. This illustrates payroll display, not a requirement to split earnings into these exact lines.
What the comparison shows: reading only the $120.00 base line creates an apparent $60.00 shortfall. The three matching components explain that difference. Count the four worked hours once.
If only $150.00 of matching earnings were verified, the remaining $30.00 would need investigation for a separate or later payment. Neither result establishes that all other entitlements were paid correctly.
CHECK 05
Use the right overtime
and roster evidence.
Overtime checks depend on employment type and the applicable daily, weekly or roster-cycle boundaries. Part-time clause 10.13 includes rostered-hour excess. Guaranteed hours and the relevant roster are distinct records.
Write down the review window and collect every shift needed for it. Reconcile totals to the underlying intervals. A payroll fortnight does not establish the applicable averaging arrangement, and a single long shift cannot settle the cycle comparison.
Retain dated part-time terms, availability, original rosters and change evidence. Establish which roster applied before treating additional work as ordinary hours or overtime. Where an agreement or roster change is uncertain, record the issue for appropriate review.
Keep the reason for the hour treatment beside its calculation. A supported shift-level result can coexist with an unresolved period-level question.
Keep: complete review-window facts, roster versions, applicable setup and the source-backed reason for each overtime segment. Our Restaurant overtime guide shows a records-first workflow for a different Award; use Hospitality clauses for this review.
CHECK 06
Distinguish worked hours
from minimum payments.
A short attendance can require a different paid quantity. Hospitality casual clause 11.3 provides a two-hour engagement minimum. Other minimum-payment situations have separate conditions; check the applicable provision rather than extending that rule to everyone.
Retain actual attendance and engagement boundaries, employment type, day category and any relevant continuity evidence. Keep worked time and a minimum-payment adjustment separately identifiable; do not rewrite the historical clock record to match paid hours.
Keep: actual hours, any payable uplift, source clause and the reason the minimum applies. WageReview does not currently implement the separate full-time/part-time public-holiday minimum payment.
CHECK 07
Ask about allowances,
duties and arrangements.
Check the relevant provisions for higher duties and allowances, including split-shift or meal-related questions; clauses 22 and 26 are useful starting points.
Gather the work or expense evidence behind the question, the duties actually performed, dates, relevant intervals and payment codes. An allowance label is not proof of eligibility, and a missing label does not prove that no matching amount was paid.
Keep salaries, annualised wages, loaded rates, managerial arrangements and flexibility agreements on a separate review path. Obtain the arrangement and its supporting records; do not assume a higher hourly or salary total resolves every entitlement.
Keep: eligibility evidence, applicable arrangement, calculation basis and payments. These allowance, higher-duty and special-arrangement questions extend beyond WageReview’s represented hourly calculation scope.
CHECK 08
Reconcile the payment,
not just the payslip label.
Link all relevant earnings lines to the work dates and period they paid for. Include separately displayed loadings and premiums, reversals, back pay and off-cycle adjustments. A payment made this week may belong to earlier work.
Fair Work’s pay-slip guidance explains required pay details, including separately identifiable payments and how some inclusions may be shown. Obtain a detailed earnings export when a payslip alone does not explain allocation.
Reconcile gross earnings first. Explain deductions and the net payment separately. Small differences can also come from rounding or allocation, but retain the method instead of dismissing an unexplained amount.
Keep: earning-code meanings, matching gross components, adjustment ownership and references. An apparent surplus requires investigation before it is described as recoverable overpayment.
TURN THE CHECKS INTO A REVIEW
One difference.
A traceable explanation.
- Define the question. Identify the employee, work dates, review window and component being compared.
- Gather and reconcile. Use original time, roster, employment and pay evidence. Maintain a visible missing-record list.
- Establish the treatment. Record the applicable instrument, source version, hour category and rate basis.
- Compare matching gross components. Keep expected amounts, matching payments and unresolved allocations separate.
- Explain and follow up. Record the reviewer’s conclusion, remaining questions and any linked payroll correction. Recheck the corrected component.
For established components, calculate the difference as recorded gross minus expected gross. A negative result is a potential shortfall to investigate; a positive result may reflect a payment that needs explanation. Missing evidence is not zero.
Fair Work’s record-keeping guidance sets out employer record obligations, including seven-year retention. Preserve the original evidence and keep corrections traceable.
PREPARE THE RECORDS
Keep the amount
beside its evidence.
- Employee ID, employment type, classification evidence and applicable instrument.
- Work dates, actual intervals, break records and original time-entry references.
- Roster versions, change evidence, part-time terms and complete review-window facts.
- Applicable dated rates, hour categories, source clauses and expected components.
- Payslip, detailed earnings, component definitions and linked adjustments.
- Reviewer explanation, unresolved facts, decision and correction reference.
Use the payroll audit data checklist to organise evidence before preparing a WageReview package. Keep source payroll exports separate from the comparison copy.
WHERE WAGEREVIEW CAN HELP
Review supported pay.
See what needs evidence.
WageReview’s controlled demo supports represented hourly-pay calculations under Hospitality MA000009, Retail MA000004 and Restaurant MA000119. It compares expected and recorded amounts and exposes the pay segments and source references behind supported findings.
Some Hospitality period and roster-dependent calculations require complete applicable records and setup. Missing or conflicting facts can block a calculation or require manual review; the system does not invent missing inputs.
Separate checks remain necessary. Current Hospitality scope excludes break-not-provided payments, the separate full-time/part-time public-holiday minimum, allowances, higher duties and special employment streams. It does not reconcile salaries or annualised wages, track TOIL, calculate leave or establish legal coverage and agreement validity.
Explore the Hospitality review scope and how WageReview works. The practical checklist in this article is broader than the system’s automated coverage.
The current offer is a controlled demonstration. Production use remains disabled. WageReview does not create pay runs, write back to payroll, automatically correct payments or guarantee complete Award compliance.
Common questions.
Does every pay difference mean underpayment?
No. A difference may be an error, a missing record, an allocation issue, a separately paid component or an adjustment. Establish the entitlement and all matching payments before concluding.
Should I add casual loading to a weekend rate?
First check whether the selected rate already includes it. Keep the rate basis and payroll components visible so the same loading is not counted twice.
Can a payslip show fewer worked hours than paid hours?
Yes, a minimum payment or another established paid component can make payable quantities different. Preserve actual work records and explain the paid adjustment separately.
Does WageReview calculate every item in this guide?
No. Supported calculations have explicit evidence requirements and exclusions. Arrange separate review for unsupported payments and unresolved legal or employment questions.
Official sources and related resources.
- Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (MA000009)
- Fair Work: Hospitality Award coverage summary
- Fair Work Library: Missed meal breaks in the Hospitality Award
- Fair Work: Penalty rates
- Fair Work: Pay guides and effective rates
- Fair Work: Pay and Conditions Tool
- Fair Work: Pay slips
- Fair Work: Record-keeping
- WageReview: Payroll audit data checklist
Sources checked 15 October 2026. General information for Australian payroll review, not legal advice. Confirm the applicable instrument and effective rules for the work dates. The example uses an invented base rate and does not establish an actual employee’s entitlement.