Placements and moneyPart 1 of 4
Job starts and placements
A Notification of Employment runs ten checks, and accepting it anchors the placement with its outcome periods, claim rows and support schedule in Workstride.
Workstride is being built for accreditation by DEWR as a Third Party Employment System. It is not yet accredited.
- Checks
- Ten checks before Accept and anchor is enabled
- Creates
- Outcome periods, claim rows and a support schedule
- Changing a date
- Kept as a key date adjustment, with a reason
Shares its record with Participants and employers
What it does
For consultants reporting a job start, and for the central claims team who accept it.
A consultant raises a Notification of Employment from the participant's record: the employer's ABN, the job title, the start date, hours a week and whether a wage subsidy might apply. By default it reaches the central claims team as a high priority item, due in two business days.
Workstride covers five placement types: a vacancy placement, an education placement, self employment, an apprenticeship and a traineeship. For a vacancy placement, the award, the classification and the hourly rate carry over from the vacancy, so nobody retypes them. In the build
Caution
A job start that looks fine on paper can still turn into a Non-Payable Outcome later, for example recurring employment with the same employer or a rate below the award (Part B 11.5.3). The checks catch what they can before the placement is anchored, not after.
On sample data
Kayla Smith's Notification of Employment
Change the hours a week and the hourly rate below and watch the benchmark, pay rate, wage subsidy and overall checks update. Accept and anchor turns off if a check fails.
SMITH, Kayla
Placement #1071
- Participant
- SMITH, Kayla
- Participant id
- 2295
- Employer
- Plainsview Motor Group
- Employer id
- 342
- Job title
- Customer service assistant
- Placement type
- Vacancy Placement
- Status
- Pending Validation
- Award
- Clerks Private Sector Award
- Classification
- Level 1 (year 1)
- Hourly rate
- 27.5
- Employment type
- Part time
Validation: Warn
- Pass Participant is commenced and not exited Commenced.
- Pass Employer identified with an ABN ABN verified.
- Pass Start date is plausible 14/09/2026
- Pass Expected hours meet the benchmark 16.0 hours a week against a 8.0 hour benchmark.
- Pass Employment Benchmark is one of the program's bands 8 hour benchmark.
- Pass Not recurring employment with this employer No earlier outcome with this employer.
- Pass Employer is not the provider or a related entity Independent employer.
- Pass No other open placement with this employer None found.
- Pass Pay rate meets the award or the national minimum wage $27.50 an hour against a minimum of $26.97.
- Warn Wage subsidy eligibility recorded Not yet assessed.
Leave blank to use the placement start date. Changing it needs a reason.
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Priority Notification of Employment awaiting acceptance
Validate and accept the placement.
- Platform id
1071
Created 16/09/2026 11:48, updated 16/09/2026 11:48.
Sample people and organisations are invented. Illustrative figures: the pay rate check compares your figure with the national minimum wage as a general guide; Workstride also checks the applicable modern award classification.
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Fail or warn
Six checks can fail outright. Four (recurring employment, a related entity, another open placement with this employer, and wage subsidy eligibility) warn instead, and need a reason to accept anyway (Part B 11.5.3).
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In the product
Accept and anchor is disabled while any check fails. On a warning it stays enabled, but a reason is required first.
The ten checks
Every Notification of Employment runs the same ten checks before it can be accepted (Part B 11.5.3).
| Check | If it is not met |
|---|---|
| The participant is commenced and not exited | Fails. Accept and anchor stays off. |
| The employer is identified with an ABN | Fails, checked against the Australian Business Register. |
| The start date is plausible | Fails. |
| Expected hours meet the Employment Benchmark | Fails. |
| The Employment Benchmark is one of the program's bands (0, 8, 15, 23 or 30 hours) | Fails. |
| The pay rate meets the award or the national minimum wage | Fails. |
| Not recurring employment with this employer | Warns. A reason is needed to accept. |
| The employer is not the provider or a related entity | Warns. A reason is needed to accept. |
| No other open placement with this employer | Warns. A reason is needed to accept. |
| Wage subsidy eligibility recorded | Warns until someone assesses it. |
Illustrative figures. The pay rate check in the product compares the rate with the applicable modern award classification; this page's demo compares it with the national minimum wage of $26.44 an hour (Fair Work Ombudsman, from 1 July 2026, refreshed each July) as a general guide.
Accept and anchor
Accepting a Notification of Employment anchors the placement in Workstride: it creates the 12, 26 and 52-week outcome periods, a claim row for each one, a Post Placement Support schedule and an Ongoing Support Assessment date. The acceptance is saved as a stamped note.
Changing the anchor date afterwards needs a reason, and Workstride keeps it as a key date adjustment rather than a silent edit. In the build
Caution
Workstride does not yet stop someone changing the anchor date after an outcome has been claimed against it (Part B 9.5.2). Planned
Wage histories
A pay period is entered once, with the hours worked, the gross income, the pay date and up to ten evidence files, then Workstride spreads it by day across the outcome weeks it covers. A declaration confirms the total hours for the outcome period are correct.
Hours from payslips and hours from the Department's income reports are counted separately for each outcome period, so one source never quietly overwrites the other. In the build
Note
A side by side screen for comparing payslip and Department report hours is on the roadmap. Planned
Permissible breaks and ending a placement
Permissible breaks
A break needs a reason outside the participant's or the provider's control, for example illness or injury, a major personal crisis, a declared natural disaster, an employer shutdown, or starting a new job soon after an unexpected termination (Part B 9.5.3). Workstride keeps one open at a time, and every later outcome, claim and Post Placement Support date moves out by the break's length.
Workstride does not yet total break days against the 28 day allowance in each segment of the outcome periods, so a provider still checks that by hand. Planned
Ending a placement
Ending a placement records the end date and the reason. The periods, claims and support history already on the record stay as they are. In the build
Caution
Breaks beyond 28 days in a segment need the Department's approval for exceptional circumstances (Part B 9.5.3). Waiting on approval
Status, part by part
| Capability | Status | Rule, gate or note |
|---|---|---|
| Notification of Employment and the ten checks | In the build | Part B 11.5.3 |
| Accept and anchor: periods, claim rows, support schedule | In the build | Part B 9.5.2 |
| Wage histories apportioned by day | In the build | Provider record |
| Permissible breaks (one at a time) | In the build | Part B 9.5.3 |
| Blocking an anchor date change after a claim | Planned | Part B 9.5.2 |
| Evidence attached to the Notification of Employment form | Planned | |
| Periodic ABN active status re-checks | Planned | |
| Re-anchoring a placement | Planned | Part B 9.5.4 |
| Break days totalled against the 28 day allowance | Planned | Part B 9.5.3 |
| Outcomes achieved on income, not only hours | Planned | Part B 9.5.2 |
| ABN lookups against the Australian Business Register | Waiting on approval | Registration at deployment |
| Department income reports loaded automatically | Waiting on approval | Each provider's subscription access |
| Breaks beyond 28 days in a segment | Waiting on approval | Department approval, Part B 9.5.3 |
| The Job Placement Anchor Date itself | Waiting on approval | Set by the Department in ESS Web |
- In the buildA first version exists and runs on sample data. No provider uses it yet.
- PlannedOn our roadmap, not built yet.
- Waiting on approvalNeeds a decision from the Department or DEWR, a supplier agreement, or legal sign-off.
What it does not do yet
- Evidence attached to the Notification of Employment form Planned
- A side by side payslip and Department report screen Planned
- Wage histories supplied by employers or participants through a portal Planned
- The Principal Carer Parent Christmas shutdown allowance Planned
- Department income reports loaded automatically Waiting on approval
Related pages, guides and tools
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Claims and outcome tracking
What happens once an anchored placement's outcome periods start ending.
In the build
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Employers and jobs
Where the vacancy, the ABN and the award classification come from.
In the build
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Outcome period calculator
Work out the 12, 26 and 52-week periods for an anchor date.
Questions about job starts and placements
What happens if a check fails after the placement has already started?
Accept and anchor stays off while a check fails, so the placement is not anchored until the consultant or the claims team fixes the underlying record, for example the ABN or the pay rate, and the check passes.
Who decides the actual Job Placement Anchor Date?
The Department sets the Job Placement Anchor Date in ESS Web. Workstride's anchor date is the provider's own record of it, used to calculate periods and reminders, and it is checked against ESS Web by hand today.
Can we use this with participants now?
No. Using Workstride with participant data first needs DEWR to accredit the Workstride system and us to hold a Third Party IT Vendor Deed, then your organisation's written approval from the Department (Part A 7.2.2).
Sources
- Inclusive Employment Australia Guidelines Part B, version 1.1, sections 9.5.1 to 9.5.4 and 11.5.3
- Inclusive Employment Australia Deed, Annexure A and Annexure B2
- Fair Work Ombudsman, National Minimum Wage, from 1 July 2026
Sources checked on 17/09/2026. Checked against the build on 17/09/2026.
See it on sample data, with the people building it.
A walkthrough covers the parts of Workstride your teams would use, the status of each one, and the approval steps your organisation takes.
Using Workstride with participant data first needs DEWR to accredit the Workstride system and us to hold a Third Party IT Vendor Deed, then your organisation's written approval from the Department (IEA Guidelines Part A 7.2.2).
Workstride is new, and we are inviting Inclusive Employment Australia providers to help shape it before launch. Help shape Workstride.
Tell us who is coming
Send the form with the roles you want to bring and the parts you want to see.
We reply to set a time
We suggest times that suit your team and confirm what the session will cover.
The walkthrough
Sample data only, with the status of every part said out loud. Nothing about your participants is asked or needed.