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Module 7: Pay Reviews

Pay Review Planner

Walk the five-step pay review for one educator. Check your position against the Children's Services Award or the Educational Services Teachers Award, weigh service and individual performance, and decide the change. AI drafts both the pay change letter and a one-page briefing you can walk into the conversation with.

The five-step pay review

A consistent process keeps pay decisions fair, defensible, and off the gut-feel path. Here is the flow this planner walks you through.

1

Pay approach

Are you paying at award or above? If above, where do you sit in the market, lower, middle or higher end?

2

Award floor check

Confirm current pay is above the minimum rate in the educator's classification under their award.

3

Service performance

Did the service meet its financial and occupancy goals? This sets the ceiling for what you can pay.

4

Individual performance

What percentage of goals has the educator achieved? Link the decision to what you can see, not to a feeling.

5

Decide and document

Choose the change. AI drafts the pay change letter and a briefing note for the conversation.

Remember the 1 July rule. The Fair Work Commission updates award rates each June, effective from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July. Even if you pay above award, check the new minimum each year so annualised salaries still sit above the award floor.

Educator and award details

Start with the basics. Pay sits on top of the award, so we need the classification and the current rate before we talk about change.

As set out in the award. e.g. Level 3.3, ECT Level 2, CS Award Level 4.
Or the equivalent annualised amount for part-time / casual.
Look this up on Fair Work's current pay tables for the relevant award.

Pay approach and service performance

Before you talk about the individual, be clear on where your service pays in the market and whether this is a year the service can fund increases at all.

Be intentional about this. Consistency across the team matters more than where you choose to pay.
From SEEK salary data, a salary survey, or a local comparison. Leave blank if unknown.
If you have defined bands. Leave blank if not.
Many services only fund increases when occupancy or financial goals are met. If you have missed targets, a CPI-only adjustment or pause is a reasonable call.

Individual performance and the decision

Link the change to what you can actually see. If you have been running one-on-ones and reviews through the year, this is not a surprise to anyone.

Rough estimate is fine. Uses the OKR framework from Module 4 if you've set quarterly goals.
Pay review rule of thumb. 100% of goals achieved may warrant a higher increase. 85 to 99% a moderate increase. 50 to 85% a smaller increase or CPI adjustment. Below 50% it is worth asking whether the issue is performance or whether the goals themselves were unrealistic. Educators currently in performance management should not receive an increase until the issues are resolved.
Calculated automatically from new salary.

Drafting a pay change letter and a one-page briefing in CLA voice. This takes about 15 seconds.