We Tested 10 Fair Work Questions on AI: Why Case-Law Citations Matter

Workers and small employers are using AI chatbots for workplace questions every day — they ask, accept the answer, and move on.

The risk: general-purpose AI is trained on broad internet data, much of it from other countries, and its knowledge stops at a training cutoff. An answer can sound confident without being tied to the Fair Work Act, the current Modern Award, or a decision you can check.

We built FairWork Mate AI on a different premise: cite every answer to a specific Australian source, and say so when the source isn't there. This article sets out the ten questions we use to test that premise and how we score an answer.

We picked 10 questions a real worker or HR person might type into an AI chat at 9pm on a Tuesday. They cover the high-volume categories: pay, redundancy, leave, casual entitlements, fixed-term contracts, restraint of trade, sham contracting, flexible work, and recent reforms. Each is typed exactly as a worker would, with no special prompting.

We score each answer on four dimensions:

• Accuracy — does the answer match what the Fair Work Act / NES / Modern Award actually say?
• Citation — does it cite a specific Australian source (statute section, FWC case, FWO guidance)?
• Currency — does it reflect post-2023 reforms (Secure Jobs Better Pay, Closing Loopholes, Payday Super)?
• Practicality — could a worker actually use this to take action?

Each dimension is scored 0-3, for a total of 12 per question and 120 across the set. You can use the same rubric on any AI tool.

The dimension that separates answers most is citation. A confident-sounding paragraph about Australian workplace law is easy to produce; naming the specific Fair Work Act section, award clause or decision it relies on is what lets you check it.

FairWork Mate AI is designed to cite a Fair Work Act section, an FWC decision or a Federal Court case on every answer. That's not because it's a better language model — it's because it's grounded on a regularly updated library of Australian case decisions and the current Modern Awards. A model answering only from its training data can't do that for anything decided after its cutoff.

Question 1. "Is a pay secrecy clause in my contract enforceable?"

• FairWork Mate AI: "No. Pay secrecy clauses have been unlawful since 7 June 2023 under section 333B of the Fair Work Act 2009, inserted by the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022. Any clause prohibiting wage disclosure is void and unenforceable. You can discuss your pay with colleagues, unions, or family. Penalties for the employer up to $109,200 per breach for a company with fewer than 15 employees, or $546,000 for one with 15 or more." ✓ Cited, current, actionable.
• What to watch for elsewhere: an answer that says pay secrecy is "restricted" or "generally unenforceable" without naming s.333B or the date is pointing in the right direction but gives you nothing to show your employer.

Question 4. "Can my employer make me work my notice period?"

• FairWork Mate AI: "Yes, generally — your employer can require you to work out the notice period stated in your contract or the NES minimum (s.117 Fair Work Act). They can also pay you out in lieu instead, at their option not yours. They cannot force you to work past the notice end date. If you refuse to work it, they may deduct the unworked portion from final wages under s.324 — but only with your written consent or court order." ✓ Distinguishes both directions, cites the relevant sections.
• What to watch for elsewhere: an answer that only mentions "the notice period in your contract" misses the NES minimum that applies when there's no contract or the contract is silent, and the payment-in-lieu option.

Question 9. "When does Payday Super start and what does it mean for me?"

• FairWork Mate AI: "Payday Super starts 1 July 2026. Employers must pay your super contributions within 7 business days of every pay run (instead of the current quarterly schedule). This means you accrue investment returns sooner, and unpaid super is caught faster. The ATO will publish updated SG charge calculations and penalties from the same date. Reference: Treasury Laws Amendment (Securing Better Outcomes for Members) Bill 2024." ✓ Date, mechanism, worker benefit, citation.
• What to watch for elsewhere: an answer that describes Payday Super as "proposed", or can't give the start date, is working from information older than the legislation.

If you use AI for workplace questions, the cost of a wrong answer is usually one of three things:

• You leave money on the table — you accept a redundancy below the NES, you sign a contract with an unenforceable clause, you don't claim back-pay you're owed
• You take action you don't have to — you accept resignation pressure when you have unfair-dismissal rights, you stay silent on pay when you're legally allowed to talk
• You ignore action you needed to take — you miss a 21-day unfair-dismissal application window, you don't lodge a wage claim within the 6-year limit

General-purpose AI is fine for "what does this clause mean in plain English" — it's a translator. It's not fine for "what are my actual rights" — it's not a lawyer, it's not even a librarian.

Three things to do regardless of which AI you use:

1. Always ask the AI to cite a specific Australian source. If it can't, treat the answer as a hypothesis, not a fact.
2. Cross-check anything material against the Fair Work Ombudsman website or call 13 13 94.
3. For anything in dispute, get an actual lawyer for a one-off review (typically $400-800). AI is your preparation, not your representation.

And try the AI tools side by side yourself. Don't take our word for it.

Pick the question that matters most to your situation right now and ask it of any AI tool you use. Watch for:

• Does it cite a specific section of the Fair Work Act or a specific FWC/Federal Court case?
• Does the cited date or amount match what you can verify on the Fair Work Ombudsman site?
• Does it tell you what to do next — an actual step — or just describe the law in abstract?

FairWork Mate AI is free to try — sign up for 1 question. Try it here. Plus ($9.99/mo) gets you 50 questions a month and unlimited AI Contract Reviewer use. Pro ($29.99/mo) gets you 150 questions, document upload, and deeper reasoning on hard cases.

The point of this article isn't "use us instead of them". The point is: insist on citations. Workplace law is too consequential to take a confident-sounding paragraph at face value, no matter who wrote it.