New Employer Advisory Service from Fair Work

Tailored advice for small business employers

The Fair Work Ombudsman has released a new Employer Advisory Service (EAS) that provides small business with advice on pay and entitlements under awards, agreements and the National Employment Standards.

It is a free service for small businesses to talk to an adviser in more detail and get tailored written advice. The EAS gives small businesses confidence to understand and comply with awards and the Fair Work Act.

Information Guarantee

If you’ve sought and followed the advice provided by the EAS in good faith and that advice turns out to be incorrect, the Fair Work Ombudsman won’t take any action against your business for relying on that advice. However, you must still rectify any entitlements that may be owed to your employees. Any employees affected (including third parties) may take their own action.

Eligibility for the EAS

You may access the EAS if you meet all of the following criteria:

• your business is covered by the Fair Work system and has less than 15 employees at the time of the enquiry

• your enquiry relates to pay and entitlements under the National Employment Standards or award provisions

• you are happy for an EAS adviser to contact you and discuss the enquiry in greater depth.

Accessing the EAS

You can only be referred to the EAS program – you can’t access it directly. To be referred, you must make an enquiry with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

To make the initial enquiry, you can either call Fair Work on 13 13 94 between 8am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays), or make an online enquiry via your Fair Work 'My Account'.

What the EAS can't help with

The EAS can't provide legal advice.

The EAS can't help you with enquiries about matters other than employee entitlements under the National Employment Standards and award provisions, including coverage and other pay and employee entitlements.