Choosing between Employment Hero and ClockOn isn’t just about features — it’s about how each system handles award complexity.

Both platforms process payroll and support awards. The key difference lies in how they interpret pay conditions, manage work types and apply rules during a shift.

For award-heavy businesses, the difference directly affects accuracy, admin time and compliance risk - and this comparison highlights why ClockOn’s rule-driven interpretation model places less burden on staff and better supports complex payroll environments.

‣  Core Difference 

  Employment Hero  
Interprets pay conditions based only on what the employee or manager explicitly records per time block — via work types.

  ClockOn  
 Interprets award pay conditions based on role, classification, and context, and automatically applies appropriate rules to a timesheet without needing multiple punches unless genuinely required. 

So the fundamental contrast is: Employment Hero requires manual work type segmentation per condition change. ClockOn uses rules that interpret the time entry holistically with less manual tagging

This distinction becomes more important in industries operating under complex awards - hospitality, wineries, healthcare, retail, clubs and multi-classification environments.

‣ How Work Types / Duty Changes Are Handled

 Employment Hero 

Each condition change must be explicitly recorded with a separate work type.

If duties change during a shift, the employee or supervisor must split the time manually.

The payroll engine won’t infer a duty change or automatically split the shift.

If only one work type is selected for a long shift with mixed duties, allowances or penalties can be missed.

Result: Multiple entries or toggles required during the day.

For businesses with highly structured shifts and consistent duties, this approach can work well. It offers visibility and control — but it relies heavily on user accuracy.

  ClockOn  

Timesheets can remain a single continuous entry, and ClockOn’s award interpretation evaluates them based on:

• Employee attributes such as classification and employment type
• Time thresholds
• Rules embedded in the award logic
• Conditions such as overtime triggers, penalties and minimum breaks

ClockOn will automatically:

• Split hours internally for pay calculation if the award requires it
• Apply allowances or penalties based on the context of total hours
• Identify overtime without requiring the user to split the entry

Result: Employees rarely need multiple punches just to trigger an award condition.

For businesses with rotating duties, seasonal staff, or employees who may not consistently tag work types correctly, this reduces compliance risk.

‣ Example Comparison

Scenario:
Winery worker [MA000090] starts at 7 am, does general tasks until 10 am, then wet work until 12 pm, and finishes cellar door until 3 pm.

 Employment Hero 

You must record 3 segments:

0700–1000 (Ordinary)
1000–1200 (Wet work)
1200–1500 (Cellar door)

If you don’t split, the system only applies one condition.

This gives strong visibility, but accuracy depends on correct tagging.

  ClockOn  

You can record:

0700–1500 (single entry)

ClockOn’s award logic then determines:

• Overtime and penalty rates based on thresholds and time of day
• Public holiday and stacked rate conditions
• Allowances such as wet work where triggered by configured rules or role settings

No need to manually segment unless duties structurally require it.

For wineries, hospitality venues, and multi-award environments, this significantly reduces admin overhead — particularly during peak periods like harvest or public holidays.

‣ How the Rule Engines Differ

 Employment Hero 

Works on flags attached to each timesheet line
Will not guess or segment
Only pays what it sees explicitly marked

This approach gives structured control but increases reliance on staff input accuracy.

  ClockOn  

Works on award logic first
Uses conditions and triggers to assess even unsegmented time
Splits internally for calculation where required

Only asks for segmentation where the award structurally requires it, not simply for allowance flags.

For businesses concerned about underpayments caused by missed work types, this interpretive model can provide a safety net.

‣ Practical Impacts

 Ease of Use 

Employees in Employment Hero often need to remember to toggle conditions mid-shift. It's accurate if duty changes are recorded correctly, but risk increases if employees forget to switch work types

ClockOn relies less on user memory. The interpretive engine captures more award conditions automatically. Staff often only need to record time (not condition logic).

For high-turnover industries or seasonal staff, reducing employee input complexity can improve payroll accuracy.

‣ When Each System May Suit

 Employment Hero may suit: 

• Businesses with simple awards
• Stable, consistent duties
• Teams comfortable with structured work type tagging
• Organisations willing to rely on manual work type tagging for pay accuracy
  
  

  ClockOn may suit:

• Award-heavy industries
• Businesses with rotating duties
• Hospitality, wineries, clubs, healthcare
• Employers wanting reduced manual tagging
• Organisations prioritising compliance, safety, and automation