# Modern Award Lawyers in Melbourne Source: https://mklawgroup.com.au/employment-lawyers/modern-awards/ Last updated: 2026-08-10 Almost every underpayment claim starts with the same two questions: which of the 121 modern awards covers you, and at what classification level. Employers get both wrong constantly, sometimes by accident, sometimes not. ## Your job title is not your classification Modern awards decide the legal minimum for your pay, penalties, overtime, allowances and hours, and which of the 121 awards covers you turns on your actual duties, not the words on your business card. That gap between title and duties is where Melbourne employers lose underpayment cases. Think of the "assistant manager" doing the same floor work as everyone else, or the "consultant" who is really a clerk under the Clerks Award, or the chef sitting two classification levels below the kitchen she actually runs. Get the award or the level wrong and every number after it is wrong too: base rate, Saturday and Sunday loadings, overtime thresholds, allowances. The exposure runs back six years. If reading that made you want to go and check your own payslip, that instinct is worth one free phone call to [1800 130 120](tel:1800130120). ## "We pay above the award" is not the end of the conversation A salary above the award minimum only works if it covers everything the award would have paid in each period: the ordinary hours and the overtime, the weekday shifts and the Sunday ones. When rosters drift toward nights and weekends, generous-looking salaries fall under the award line without anyone noticing, and every annual award increase keeps raising that line. We run the reconciliation properly, the same way the Fair Work Ombudsman or a court would, and tell you which side of the line you sit on. > In underpayment files, the money is usually lost before the first payslip is printed. It is lost on the day someone picks the wrong award, or the wrong level, and nobody checks for six years. > > MK Law Group ## Awards decide more than pay Two consequences of award coverage surprise almost everyone who calls us. First, unfair dismissal: the $190,100 high income threshold does not shut out award-covered employees, which regularly revives claims for well-paid staff who assumed they had no rights. The 21-day deadline explained on our [unfair dismissal](https://mklawgroup.com.au/employment-lawyers/unfair-dismissal/) page still binds them. Second, redundancy: awards impose consultation obligations before major change, and an employer who skips consultation can lose the genuine redundancy defence entirely. When a restructure lands on your desk, whether the employer followed clause-by-clause consultation is often the whole case. Plenty of the people who ring [employment lawyers](https://mklawgroup.com.au/employment-lawyers/) about a dismissal or a redundancy find the argument turning on which award covered them all along. Enterprise agreements sit on top of this system, not outside it. An agreement must leave you better off overall than the award, and the law now expressly stops award penalty and overtime rates being cut or swapped for less. The award stays the floor underneath everything, and working out exactly where that floor sits for your role is most of the job. ## Find out what you should actually be earning One payslip, your letter of offer, and an honest list of what you do each week is all we need. On a free call, MK Law will identify your award and classification and tell you whether the rate looks wrong. If it does, we scope the recovery with you on that same call. The recovery itself, six years of back-pay with interest, is the whole subject of our [penalty rates](https://mklawgroup.com.au/employment-lawyers/penalty-rates/) page. Call [1800 130 120](tel:1800130120) or use the form on this page before another pay cycle passes. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is a modern award? A legal instrument made by the Fair Work Commission setting minimum pay and conditions for an industry or occupation: base rates by classification level, penalty rates, overtime, allowances, hours, breaks and consultation rules. There are 121 of them, covering most Australian jobs from retail and hospitality to clerks, nurses and building trades. Your award applies automatically; you do not sign up to it and your employer cannot opt out of it. ### How do I know which award covers me? Coverage follows what you actually do and the industry you do it in, not your job title. A 'manager' who mostly serves customers can sit under the retail award at a non-managerial level, and one business can have staff across several awards. Misreading coverage is one of the most common sources of underpayment we see. Tell us your duties on the free first call and we will identify the award and level, usually on the spot. ### What if my employer says I am award free? Sometimes that is true, for genuine senior managers and many professionals. Often it is wrong, and once it is wrong every entitlement built on top of it goes with it: the base rate, the penalty rates, the overtime, six years of exposure. 'We pay above award so it does not matter' is also wrong, because an over-award salary must still cover every award entitlement in each pay period, and every annual award rise quietly erodes the buffer. ### Does my award matter if I am on an enterprise agreement? Yes. An enterprise agreement must pass the better off overall test against the relevant award when approved, and the award remains the benchmark underneath it. Award penalty and overtime rates also can no longer be reduced or traded away through the award system, which strengthens the floor everything else is measured against. ### Why does award coverage matter beyond pay? Two big reasons. Award-covered employees can bring unfair dismissal claims even when they earn above the $190,100 high income threshold. And awards contain consultation clauses that employers must follow in redundancies; skipping them can destroy the genuine redundancy defence and turn a restructure into a winnable claim. Award coverage questions decide cases that never mention pay at all. ### What should I do if I think I am on the wrong award or level? Do not resign and do not sign anything. Gather a payslip, your contract or letter of offer, and a plain list of what you actually do each week. Then call 1800 130 120. The first call is free, we tell you honestly whether the classification looks wrong, and if it does, what six years of the difference adds up to. ## Contact MK Law Group - Phone: 1800 130 120 (24/7) - Email: marcus@mklawfirm.com.au - Office: 2/212 Barkly Street, St Kilda VIC 3182 - Enquiry form: https://mklawgroup.com.au/contact/ - The first call is free.