Employment Hero

Employment Hero Payroll charges $10/emp/mo (Payroll) per active employee. There is no monthly base fee, but a minimum monthly charge of 100 applies, meaning smaller teams pay that minimum regardless of headcount. This minimum makes Employment Hero better value as teams grow toward and beyond the threshold where the per-employee rate exceeds the floor.

Yes. Employment Hero Payroll is fully STP Phase 2 compliant and submits itemised payroll data, including wages, tax, super, and leave components, to the ATO each pay cycle. It supports the Payday Super changes from 1 July 2026 through its HeroClear clearing house, which processes super contributions alongside each pay run.

Employment Hero Payroll (formerly KeyPay, rebranded in March 2023) runs the same award interpretation engine that built its market-leading reputation for automated award compliance in Australia, covering more than 100 Modern Awards with pre-built pay condition rules for penalty rates, overtime, shift loadings, and annual award reconciliations. It is particularly well regarded for hospitality, retail, and healthcare businesses where award complexity is high.

Yes. Employment Hero is a full HR and payroll platform that includes onboarding and offboarding, employee self-service, leave management, performance reviews, and a benefits marketplace alongside the payroll engine. This makes it an all-in-one option for growing teams that want HR and payroll in a single system rather than two separate products.

Employment Hero suits Australian growing businesses, typically from about five to a few hundred employees, that want integrated HR and payroll with strong award compliance in a single platform. It is a natural upgrade path for businesses that have outgrown the payroll features in Xero or MYOB and need structured onboarding, self-service, and richer compliance tools.

Yes. Employment Hero integrates with Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks Online, pushing payroll journals and employee cost data into your accounting system after each pay run. This avoids manual data entry between systems and keeps financial records accurate without duplication.

Employment Hero charges $10/emp/mo (HR Essentials) on the HR Essentials plan, with a $100/mo. Higher plans unlock additional features including performance reviews and an applicant tracking system. The pricing model scales predictably as headcount grows, and no long-term contract is required.

Yes. Employment Hero includes native payroll built on the engine it originally sold as KeyPay, which is STP Phase 2 compliant. Pay runs report wages, tax, and superannuation directly to the ATO. The platform also supports the Payday Super requirements scheduled for July 2026, aligning super payments with each pay cycle.

Employment Hero provides built-in Modern Award interpretation through its native payroll engine, covering 100+ Modern Awards. Award rules, penalty rates, and allowances are maintained in the platform and applied automatically at payroll calculation time. This is one of the key advantages of using an AU-built platform over a global HRIS that requires manual award configuration.

Yes. Employment Hero is specifically designed for the Australian market and serves businesses from sole traders upward. The HR Essentials plan covers leave management, employee self-service, onboarding, and document management. The monthly minimum means the effective per-employee rate is higher for very small teams, but the all-in-one AU payroll and HR combination compares favourably against running two separate tools.

Employment Hero integrates natively with Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks for accounting, and includes native Employment Hero payroll. It also connects with Slack and other productivity tools. For businesses that need BambooHR or HiBob as their HRIS layer, Employment Hero Payroll is a commonly used integration target for those platforms.

Yes. The Employment Hero Work app is available on iOS and Android and allows employees to view payslips, submit leave requests, complete onboarding tasks, and access company documents from their phone. This is included across all plans.

Employment Hero EWA (Earned Wage Access) is built into the Employment Hero Work app. Employees whose employer uses the Employment Hero HR and payroll platform can request access to wages they have already earned at any time. Employment Hero funds the request and the amount is automatically deducted as a payroll deduction in the next pay run.

The fee per withdrawal is 1.3% (Swag Wallet) or 1.5% (bank account) when the funds are sent to an external bank account. A lower fee applies for transfers to the Swag Wallet (Employment Hero's integrated spending account). There is no interest charged.

EWA is included at no additional cost for employers already on the Employment Hero platform. There is no separate setup fee for the employer.

Yes. The employer must be using the Employment Hero HR platform and have payroll connected to it. Employees cannot access EWA independently; the feature is enabled through the employer's account.

Employees can access up to 50% of their earned wages per pay period, subject to a weekly maximum set by Employment Hero.

Employment Hero EWA works with Employment Hero Payroll, Xero, and MYOB. The employer's payroll must be connected to the Employment Hero platform for EWA to function.

No. Employment Hero EWA gives employees early access to wages they have already earned. It is interest-free and does not involve the extension of new credit in the way a payday loan or personal loan does. Employment Hero holds an ASIC credit licence for this product in Australia.