AgriSmart’s task management tools make it easy to assign, track, and complete work across your farm. From seasonal harvests to daily maintenance, you can monitor progress in real time, allocate responsibilities to the right team members, and ensure nothing is missed. Keep your workflow organised, your team aligned, and every task visible in one central dashboard.
Horticulture Award Rates, Applied Automatically
No spreadsheets. No manual lookups. No errors reaching payroll.
The Horticulture Award is one of Australia’s most complex: Piece rates, overtime thresholds, public holiday penalties, casual loadings. AgriSmart holds the Award rate tables and applies the right rate automatically, at the point of time capture.
Overtime Thresholds
Piece Rate Minimums
Public Holiday Penalties
Casual & Permanent Rates
Audit-Ready Records
Award Rates Built In
The Horticulture Award rate tables are built into AgriSmart. The right rate applies automatically.
The right penalty triggers automatically. Nothing to look up. Nothing to configure. Nothing to get wrong.
Always Current – Rate changes are reflected in the system. You’re not chasing updates.
Applied at Capture – Rates apply when time is recorded. Errors don’t reach payroll.
Consistent Across Sites – Same logic, every worker, every block.
Where Award Rate Errors Actually Happen
Rate errors don’t start in payroll
They start when:
- Piece rates aren’t checked against the hourly minimum
- Overtime thresholds are tracked manually, or not at all
- Public holidays are missed during busy periods
- Casual and part-time loadings are applied inconsistently
Payroll processes what it receives
If the inputs are wrong, payroll produces:
- Piece rate shortfalls
- Missed overtime payments
- Unpaid public holiday penalties
- Records that don’t reflect what actually happened
Errors Surface Later
Award rate errors rarely appear in the moment. They show up during when you least want them:
During an audit
During an internal review
During an employee claim
And Compound Out of Sight
Small weekly gaps across a large crew add up fast. Backpay extends years into the past and includes superannuation and interest. Poor records create risk even where pay appears correct.
Designed for the Horticulture Award
Piece Rates with an Hourly Safety Net
Every worker checked against the Award hourly minimum, automatically.
Read More
Under the Horticulture Award, piece rate workers must earn at least the minimum hourly rate for the hours they work each day, regardless of output. This is easy to miss when crew size is large and output varies between workers and weeks.
AgriSmart validates every worker’s piece rate earnings against the Award minimum each pay period:
- Shortfalls flagged before payroll runs
- Consistent checks across your entire crew
- Clear records of every validation
No spreadsheet. No manual calculation. No gap that quietly becomes a backpay liability.
Overtime That Applies Every Time
Award overtime thresholds tracked automatically, across every worker and site.
Read More
Harvest weeks run long, and daily and weekly overtime thresholds get crossed. Separately, PALM employers must offer short-term workers at least 120 hours over each 4-week period, which is another thing to track. Manually staying on top of all of this, across 50+ workers, multiple sites, and during peak season just isn’t realistic.
AgriSmart monitors all of it in real time:
- Daily and weekly overtime thresholds applied automatically
- PALM workers flagged when they are tracking below the 120-hour minimum
- Correct rates applied the moment a threshold is crossed
- Consistent treatment across every site and supervisor
Overtime compliance stops being something someone has to remember.
Public Holidays, Never Missed
Penalty rates applied automatically, even at the height of harvest.
Read More
Public holidays fall during peak horticulture periods every year. When workers are on site, the correct Award penalty conditions must apply, there’s no operational exemption for being busy.
AgriSmart handles it without manual intervention:
- Public holidays recognised automatically within the system
- Work on those dates flagged and rated correctly
- Holiday treatment documented and traceable
You don’t need to remember to check. The system already has.
Replace the Spreadsheet
Manual rate management creates errors. AgriSmart eliminates the process entirely.
Read More
Most horticulture payroll teams are still managing Award rates on spreadsheets, looking up rates, checking thresholds, manually validating piece rates before each run. It works until it doesn’t.
AgriSmart replaces the spreadsheet entirely:
- Rates held and applied within the system
- No manual lookups or cross-referencing
- Payroll receives clean, validated data, not a calculation to verify
The time your payroll team spends checking can be spent on something else.
Consistent Across Every Site
The same Award logic applied to every worker, every supervisor, every block.
Read More
In multi-site operations, inconsistency is where errors breed. Supervisors applying rates differently. Some sites checking piece rate minimums, others not. Award compliance that varies depending on who’s managing the block that week.
AgriSmart applies identical Award logic across your entire operation:
- Every site, every block, every intake period
- No variation based on supervisor or location
- Management visibility across the full workforce in real time
What happens on your biggest site happens on your smallest one too.
Records That Prove It
If your rates are ever questioned, the answer is already documented.
Read More
Applying the right rate isn’t enough on its own, you need to be able to demonstrate it. When Fair Work reviews your operation, they’ll want to see how Award conditions were applied, across which workers, and over what period.
AgriSmart generates that record automatically:
- Rate calculations documented at the point of capture
- Piece rate validations per worker, per pay period
- Overtime and public holiday treatment recorded and traceable
- Exportable audit reports ready on demand
You’re not reconstructing history. You’re pressing a button.
Ready to See AgriSmart in Action?
Book a 15-minute demo and discover why New Zealand’s leading kiwifruit growers trust AgriSmart.
Too Many Workers to Check Manually
It’s not a question of effort, it’s a question of scale. A payroll manager checking piece rates for 80+ workers across three sites, during harvest, before a Monday morning run and already 3 coffees deep will miss something. That’s not a failure of process. It’s the limit of what manual management can do.
What manual management costs:
Hours of pre-payroll checking every pay period
Backpay liability that builds quietly across a season
Records that are incomplete when you need them most
Errors that reach payroll and require correction
What AgriSmart replaces it with:
Award rates applied automatically at time capture
Clean data sent directly to your payroll system
Complete records generated without additional work
Errors flagged before they reach payroll
More Workers Means More Rates to Get Right
At 20 workers, manual rate checking is manageable. At 50+ during harvest, it isn’t.
In horticulture, demand is:
Seasonal
Weather driven
Scales rapidly
At scale, manual rate management breaks down:
Piece rate checks skipped under time pressure
Overtime thresholds missed across multiple sites
Public holidays applied inconsistently between supervisors
Payroll corrections after the fact instead of prevention before it
Built for Audit Confidence
AgriSmart creates documented compliance records including:
Piece rate hourly validation per pay period
Overtime threshold calculations
Public holiday recognition and treatment
Time and activity logs per worker
Supervisor approval records
Full audit reports, exportable on demand
AgriSmart documents how every Award rate was applied, automatically, at the point of capture. If you’re reviewed, you produce a report. Everything Fair Work would ask for is already there.
Control Award Compliance
Before Payroll Runs
Horticulture Award errors are far easier to prevent than to unwind, and AgriSmart applies Award logic at the point of time capture so payroll receives structured, compliant inputs that deliver stronger operational control, reduced underpayment risk, and clear oversight across seasonal and PALM workforces.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Horticulture Award require piece-rate workers to earn a minimum hourly rate?
Yes. Under the Horticulture Award, piece-rate workers must earn at least the applicable minimum hourly rate for the hours they work each day, regardless of output. This means every pay period needs a comparison between piece-rate earnings and the hourly minimum, with a top-up applied where earnings fall short. AgriSmart validates this automatically for every worker before payroll runs.
How are overtime thresholds handled under the Horticulture Award?
The Award sets daily and weekly overtime thresholds that trigger higher rates once crossed. During harvest, when hours run long across large crews and multiple sites, these thresholds are easy to miss when tracked manually. AgriSmart monitors hours in real time and applies the correct overtime rate the moment a threshold is reached.
What is the 120-hour requirement for PALM workers?
PALM scheme employers must offer short-term workers a minimum of 120 hours over each four-week period, which averages to 30 hours per week. It is a minimum the employer must provide, not a maximum the worker stays under. If fewer than 120 hours are offered, the employer must top up the worker’s pay. AgriSmart tracks hours offered and worked against the minimum so a shortfall is visible before payroll runs.
Do public holiday penalty rates still apply during harvest?
Yes. There is no operational exemption from public holiday penalty rates for being busy. When workers are on site on a public holiday, the correct Award penalty conditions must apply. AgriSmart recognises public holidays automatically and rates work on those dates correctly.
How do casual and permanent rates differ under the Horticulture Award?
The Award sets different conditions for casual and permanent employees, including a casual loading applied to casual rates. Applying these inconsistently across sites or supervisors is a common source of error. AgriSmart applies the correct rate and loading consistently for every worker across the operation.
Why do small Award rate errors become a significant liability?
Small weekly underpayments across a large crew accumulate quickly, and backpay can extend years into the past, including superannuation and interest. Because these errors often surface only during an audit, internal review, or employee claim, the exposure builds out of sight. Preventing errors at the point of time capture is far easier than unwinding them later.
What records does AgriSmart keep for a Fair Work review?
AgriSmart documents how each Award rate was applied at the point of capture, including piece-rate validations per worker per pay period, overtime and public holiday treatment, time and activity logs, and supervisor approvals. These records are exportable as audit reports on demand, so a review becomes a matter of producing a report rather than reconstructing history.
- Payroll
- Timesheets
- Ticketing & Traceability
- Digital Hiring
- Rosters
- Health & Safety
- Task Management
- Spray Diary
- Equipment Register
Timesheets
Staff record time effortlessly with our iOS and Android app, even offline. For added flexibility, hours can be entered manually or through biometric devices in the shed. Every entry flows into payroll and rosters, giving you accurate pay runs, better scheduling, and a clear record of hours worked.
Need More Info?
Ticketing & Traceability
Purpose-built for horticulture, our bin ticketing system brings accuracy and control to your harvest. Track every bin from block to shed with full visibility over quantities, picker performance, and bin movements. Improve harvest efficiency, reduce waste, and strengthen quality control, all while keeping costs in check.
Need More Info?
Rosters
Build and share rosters in minutes with AgriSmart’s scheduling tools. Assign the right people at the right time and keep everyone updated instantly through the mobile app. Staff see shifts as soon as they are published, reducing confusion and last-minute calls. Approved changes flow into timesheets and payroll, keeping your team clear, records accurate, and compliant.
Need More Info?
Spray Diary
Designed for horticulture, our spray diary makes it easy to log chemical applications, including sprays, fertigation, and dry treatments. Record details once, stay audit ready, and meet compliance standards with less admin. The system keeps records accurate, centralised, and field ready for reliable reporting.
Need More Info?
Equipment Register
Keep tools, vehicles and machinery organised in one digital system. Track photos, details, documents and servicing in structured asset profiles. Set automated maintenance reminders, store full histories and keep equipment compliant, safe and ready to work across every site.
Need More Info?
