Keeping a full history of changes to an employee's pay conditions is important for record-keeping. We also strongly recommend recording when employees agree to changes. You can do both in the Pay Conditions tab of the employee's profile.
What's covered in this guide?
How do Pay Conditions work?
Pay conditions control how an employee is paid and what they're entitled to. Depending on your account, they can include:
Position
Industry award, Employment type, Classification/level and Allowances (if your account uses award templates)
Additional tags
Overriding hourly rate
Annual salary
Alternate rates
Regular hours of work, including Contracted weekly hours and Contracted weekly days
If a value comes from the employee's position, the field shows Filled from position and can't be changed there.
Each employee can have:
Current Pay Conditions & Hours: the conditions that apply now.
Upcoming Pay Conditions: conditions scheduled to start on a future date.
Past Pay Conditions: conditions that applied before.
Drafts: changes saved but not yet applied.
Access pay conditions
Go to Staff and choose the employee.
Select Pay Conditions.
Who can see and change pay conditions:
To view the tab, a user needs permission to see or edit the employee's wages, or to view their regular hours of work.
To change pay (rates, salary, tags and so on), a user needs the Edit Wages permission. Admins, Payroll Officers and General Managers have it by default; Team Managers don't.
To change regular hours of work, a user needs permission to create or edit regular hours of work.
Change an employee's current pay conditions
Go to Staff, choose the employee and select Pay Conditions.
In Current Pay Conditions & Hours, click Edit these conditions.
Under How do you want to edit these pay conditions?, choose an option:
Option | Use it when… | What it does |
From start of current pay cycle | The employee's pay conditions recently changed | Creates new pay conditions starting from the current pay cycle |
From start of previous pay cycle | The employee's pay conditions changed last pay cycle | Creates new pay conditions starting from the previous pay cycle |
From start of pay conditions (or From start of employment) | You need to fix a mistake in the current pay conditions | Edits the existing pay conditions from their start date |
Date change only | You only need to change when the current pay conditions started | Changes the start date only |
📝 Important to note: Options are hidden if they don't apply. For example, From start of current pay cycle doesn't appear if the current pay conditions already start on that date.
Create new pay conditions
Use this for significant changes, such as a promotion, a move from part-time to full-time, or a new hourly rate or salary. Creating new pay conditions keeps the old and new conditions separate in the employee's history, with any contracts attached.
Click Edit these conditions.
Choose From start of current pay cycle or From start of previous pay cycle.
Make your changes to the pay conditions and Regular hours of work.
To send contracts or documents, see "Send contracts and documents with a change" below.
Click Confirm changes.
Check the changes in the Confirm Changes window, then click Confirm and apply. To go back, click Cancel and keep editing.
Fix the current pay conditions
Use this to correct a mistake, or for small changes that don't need the employee's agreement, such as adding tags.
Click Edit these conditions.
Choose From start of pay conditions (or From start of employment).
Make your changes.
Click Confirm changes, check the changes, then click Confirm and apply.
Change the start date only
Click Edit these conditions.
Choose Date change only.
Enter the New start date. It must be after the previous pay conditions' start date and before the current pay conditions end, if they have an end date.
Click Confirm changes, then Confirm and apply.
📝 Important to note: Date change only isn't available when the current pay conditions are the employee's first set, which starts from their employment start date. Create new pay conditions first.
Schedule new pay conditions
Use this when you know about a future change, such as a promotion, a move from casual to part-time, or an annual pay rise.
Go to Staff, choose the employee and select Pay Conditions.
In Current Pay Conditions & Hours, click Add new conditions.
Under When will the new conditions take effect?, choose:
Start of the next pay cycle
From start of current pay cycle
From start of previous pay cycle
On a custom date, then enter the date
Make your changes.
To send contracts or documents, see the next section.
Click Confirm changes, check the changes, then click Confirm and apply.
Future changes appear under Upcoming Pay Conditions as Scheduled change from [date] onwards. Workforce.com applies them automatically on that date.
💡 Tip: Not ready to apply the change? Click Save as draft and come back to it later.
Send contracts and documents with a change
When you make a change, you can send the employee contracts and documents to review and sign.
Under Contracts & Documents, tick Notify [employee] of this change, and send related Contracts or Documents (e.g. policies).
Choose from Select contracts to send to [employee] and Select documents to send to [employee]. You can also Upload your own documents (PDF only, up to 5MB).
Click Review Contracts, fill in any dynamic fields, then click Finish.
Click Confirm changes.
Optional: in the Confirm Changes window, tick Send contracts to be signed before applying this change.
Click Confirm and apply.
📝 Important to note: If the employee has contracts they haven't signed yet, the tick box reads Notify [employee] of this change, withdraw existing Contracts or Documents and send new Contracts or Documents (e.g. policies). Ticking it withdraws the unsigned contracts and sends the new ones.
View pay conditions history
For one set of pay conditions: open the set and click View history. The History window shows the User, Action, Time, Changes, and any Contracts & Docs sent with each change.
For the employee overall: scroll to Employee History at the bottom of the Pay Conditions page.
Edit or delete upcoming and past pay conditions
Go to Staff, choose the employee and select Pay Conditions.
Under Upcoming Pay Conditions or Past Pay Conditions, click the row to expand it.
Choose:
Edit scheduled pay conditions (upcoming) or Edit past pay conditions (past): make your changes, click Confirm changes, then Confirm and apply.
Delete change: then click Delete scheduled change to confirm.
📝 Important to note: You can't delete:
the current pay conditions;
the employee's first set of pay conditions, which starts from their employment start date;
pay conditions with signed contracts.
FAQs and troubleshooting
Why can't I see the Pay Conditions tab?
Why can't I see the Pay Conditions tab?
You need permission to see or edit the employee's wages, or to view their regular hours of work. Ask an admin to check your role.
Why can't I change pay rates?
Why can't I change pay rates?
Your role needs the Edit Wages permission. Team Managers don't have it by default.
Why can't I see Date change only?
Why can't I see Date change only?
It isn't available when the current pay conditions are the employee's first set. Create new pay conditions first.
Why can't I click Edit these conditions or Add new conditions?
Why can't I click Edit these conditions or Add new conditions?
The employee has no current pay conditions. Click Set up pay conditions first.
Why does it say "There are existing pay conditions starting on the same date"?
Why does it say "There are existing pay conditions starting on the same date"?
Another set of pay conditions already starts on that date. Choose a different date, or edit the existing set.
Why can't I delete a change?
Why can't I delete a change?
Current pay conditions, the employee's first set, and pay conditions with signed contracts can't be deleted.
How do I see who changed an employee's pay rate?
How do I see who changed an employee's pay rate?
Open the set and click View history, or check Employee History at the bottom of the Pay Conditions page.