Ongoing payroll compliance reviews, minus the manual work

Gain visibility of payroll discrepancies so you can action rapidly and improve future processes. Our automated payroll review solutions support large Australian employers with historical and ongoing reviews across employee entitlements and payments.

Making compliance easy for Australian employers

With 122 modern awards and thousands of enterprise agreements, Australian industrial relations is complex. Yellow Canary enables large Australian employers to streamline compliance across employee payments, entitlements and Long Service Leave. Yellow Canary’s Always On Compliance platform automates monthly reviews, comparing payments to obligations, and providing rapid actionable insights.

Two people sitting on a couch discussing something on their laptop computer.

Market first: Leverage superannuation compliance with AI

Superannuation compliance may seem straightforward but can be complicated by incorrect use of pay codes, unique employee scenarios, and the interplay of EAs and superannuation. Our Superannuation Compliance tool is the only automated solution in the Australian market that leverages AI, calculates superannuation guarantee variances and payable charges, simplifies ATO reporting, and supports both historical and ongoing compliance.

Modern Award & EA compliance

Employers are under pressure to mitigate underpayments, and ongoing monitoring is playing an increasingly vital role in compliance strategies. Yellow Canary offers the most advanced payroll compliance solutions on the Australian market, supporting historical reviews and ongoing compliance with modern awards and EAs.

Market first: Automate LSL compliance

Long service leave (LSL) compliance is complex, and can often be an afterthought following modern award and EA compliance. The complexities of LSL compliance inspired us to create the market's only automated review tool that calculates LSL balances and payments.

ISO 27001 certification

Integrity is at the core of Yellow Canary's values, guiding our commitment to safeguarding your data. Yellow Canary is devoted to ensuring the security of your information, holding an ISO 27001 certification which is maintained through extensive protocols.

Alleviate pressure from your team

Avoid costly remediation projects

We're living in an era where payroll underpayments are being publicised relentlessly. Remediation projects are lengthy and costly, causing unnecessary stress for already busy payroll, legal and HR teams. Automating monthly pay reviews will eliminate this pressure.

Be on the front foot with compliance

Waiting to correct payroll mistakes can uncover broader systemic issues. Businesses who prioritise proactive compliance can demonstrate due diligence to their board and avoid prosecution from the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Manage stakeholder expectations

ESG obligations

Investors and shareholders are increasingly requiring tangible assurances of workforce compliance as part of ESG strategies. Yellow Canary helps you prioritise ongoing compliance measures with ease.

Board visibility

Demonstrate compliance and provide peace of mind for your board. Our AOC dashboard provides an ongoing view of your compliance state, giving stakeholders confidence in your governance framework.

Prove due diligence

The government is taking decisive action to ensure employees are fairly compensated for their efforts, and due diligence is playing an increasingly important role in compliance. Add an extra layer of protection to your risk and compliance strategy.

Take a proactive approach to mitigating underpayments

Don't just rely on your award interpretation software for compliance. Following the introduction of the Closing Loopholes Act 2023 and the Closing Loopholes No.2 Act 2024, businesses are focusing their efforts on continuous governance practices. Get the guide to mitigating underpayments and crafting a strong compliance strategy tailored to your company's needs.

Illustration 'The Four Pillars of Workforce Compliance'

We'll let the numbers do the talking

100+

Large scale pay reviews completed in 7 years

$70 billion

Of employee payroll data reviewed

300k+

Employees reviewed

Detect payroll issues before they compound.
Get started now

Frequently asked questions

Who is Yellow Canary?

Yellow Canary is a growing RegTech scale-up that enables Australian employers to achieve compliance confidence across employee payments, entitlements and Long Service Leave. Supporting Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) obligations, Yellow Canary’s Always On Compliance platform automates regular reviews, comparing payments to obligations, and providing rapid actionable insights.

What does Yellow Canary do?

Yellow Canary challenges the traditional approach to workforce compliance. Their automated solutions are designed to support companies navigating the complexities of the Australian industrial relations system, and to enable ongoing compliance due diligence.

Who are Yellow Canary’s founders?

Yellow Canary was founded in 2018 by Marcus Zeltzer and Brenton McSweyn to address under-serviced and widespread workforce compliance issues in Australian businesses.

Is wage theft a crime in Australia?

State specific wage theft laws in Queensland and Victoria mean that employers in those states can face criminal charges and convictions as a result of wage theft.

Under the Closing Loopholes Act 2023, intentional wage theft will carry severe penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines reaching $1,565,000 for individuals and $7,825,000 for corporations, or three times the value of the underpayment – whichever is higher.

The Closing Loopholes No.2 Act 2024 includes civil provisions. Serious contraventions will cover recklessness as well as intentional acts, with the maximum fine increasing to $4,696,000, or three times the underpaid - whichever is higher. These reforms are prompting employers to think ahead about their compliance strategies, to avoid penalties resulting from missteps in wage compliance processes.

Why should my business prioritise compliance?

Australian businesses are under more pressure than ever to maintain and demonstrate workforce compliance. Non-compliance with workplace laws can result in payroll underpayments. This isn’t just bad for business; no matter the intent, underpaying workers can lead to decreased employee morale and lack of trust in the employer. Regular compliance reviews are essential for employers to ensure they’re meeting legal and ethical obligations and that issues do not compound over time.

Who are Yellow Canary’s clients?

Yellow Canary’s clients are some of Australia’s most recognisable employers with workforces from 500 to 100,000 across a range of industry sectors including banking, insurance, retail, hospitality, manufacturing and health services.

Does Yellow Canary cater to any EA or modern award?

Yes. Yellow Canary’s flexible technology configures to any modern award, enterprise agreement or industrial instrument agreed with your legal counsel or compliance advisor.

How do you handle modern award and EA interpretation within your system?

Our Always On Compliance solution only requires configuration -rather than construction - which comes from a combination of assumptions, rules and interpretation principles that are applied to your data. The platform does not need to be constructed from the ground up, nor is it dependent on a substantial number of people to run it.

How do I know that monthly reviews will be accurate and compliant?

Yellow Canary adds an extra layer of accuracy and confidence where your payroll system rules may not be sufficient. We work with you and your legal counsel or compliance expert to confirm your agreed pay rule interpretations. We then use this interpretation as the source of truth for all pay reviews. Our automation technology eliminates any risk of human error that is common with manual review methods.

What makes Yellow Canary’s Always On Compliance solution different from other service or solution providers?

Yellow Canary’s Always On Compliance subscription offers a purpose-built calculator configured to your business needs. Using advanced technology, Yellow Canary creates a fast and scalable solution that simplifies the payroll verification process.