Fair Jobs Code: certificates, plans and subcontractors
Without a certificate, you generally cannot win a Victorian Government contract of $1 million or more. The Fair Jobs Code checks a supplier's employment and safety record before it can bid, and the same rule reaches the trade partners (subcontractors) it engages directly.
What is the Fair Jobs Code?
The Fair Jobs Code is a Victorian Government code on labour standards for suppliers. Businesses seeking contracts of $1 million or more need a pre-assessment certificate, based on three years of employment and safety compliance, and direct subcontractors at that value need one too. Contracts of $20 million or more also need a plan.
Suppliers Seeking Government Contracts
Suppliers need a certificate for threshold contracts of $1 million to under $20 million and high value contracts of $20 million or more, excluding GST. Agencies check it against a public register.
Significant Subcontractors
A trade partner with a subcontract directly with the supplier worth $1 million or more must hold a certificate. Suppliers must only enter those subcontracts with certificate holders.
Standing Offers And Panels
Suppliers on state purchase contracts, sole entity purchase contracts, panels and registers must hold a certificate, whatever the value of an individual order.
Grant Recipients
Businesses seeking grants of $500,000 or more, where a key milestone is to increase or retain employee numbers, must also hold a certificate and provide a plan.
What the Fair Jobs Code asks for.
What you report, and when.
New Adverse Rulings Or Undertakings
To the Fair Jobs Code Unit and agencies
Additional State Contracts
To the Fair Jobs Code Unit
Certificate Expiry Or Revocation
To agencies with an active contract or grant
Plan Commitments
To the contracting agency
- Current Pre-Assessment Certificate
- Certificates For Significant Subcontractors
- Fair Jobs Code Plan Or Plan Addendum
- Records Of Adverse Rulings And Remedial Action
- Licences And Workers Compensation Registration
- Progress Against Plan Commitments
- Labour Hire Provider Licences
Applying When The Tender Lands
The Fair Jobs Code Unit aims to decide within 30 business days of a complete application, and an incomplete one takes longer. A supplier applying after a tender opens can run out of time, so apply at least 30 business days ahead.
Forgetting Trade Partners
Suppliers may only subcontract directly at $1 million or more with a certificate holder, which older articles misreport as $10 million. Check the certificate before awarding the package, since a trade partner without one takes weeks to fix.
Letting A Certificate Lapse Quietly
A certificate lasts two years, and the Unit's reminders go only to the contact details it holds. Expiry triggers a 10 business day duty to tell agencies and can lead to contractual remedies, even if a renewal is under way.
How Catchment manages the Fair Jobs Code.
Set Up As Your Own Framework
GovAssureThere is no ready-made Fair Jobs Code template in the app. You build it as your own framework in the Policies & Frameworks library, versioned, and adopting it on a project generates the requirements you defined.
Your Certificate And Its Revisions
GovAssureHold your two-year certificate in the Document Register with its revisions. Catchment does not alert you to expiry, so diarise the renewal well before the 30 business days an application can take.
Subcontractor Certificates By Package
GovAssureA package-level Form with a File question and a Date question lets trade partners with direct subcontracts of $1 million or more give you their certificate and its expiry date. The date is recorded, with no alert when it passes. Catchment records what they file and does not check it with the Fair Jobs Code Unit, so use the public register for that.
Plan Commitments And Disclosures
GovAssureFile your plan or plan addendum against the project as a one-time document, and add a quarterly or half-yearly form asking for progress on each measurable commitment. The same form can ask about new adverse rulings or undertakings, which carry a 10 business day duty, giving you the record to report from.
Catchment has no ready-made template for this one. You build it in the Policies & Frameworks library, then adopt it on each project.
Fair Jobs Code questions.
Who needs a Fair Jobs Code pre-assessment certificate?
Suppliers seeking Victorian Government contracts of $1 million or more, excluding GST, need one. So do direct subcontractors at $1 million or more, suppliers on standing offers and panels, and businesses seeking certain expansion grants of $500,000 or more. Limited exemptions exist for essential services, emergencies and Ministerial decisions.
Do subcontractors need a Fair Jobs Code certificate?
Yes, if they hold a subcontract directly with the supplier valued at $1 million or more, excluding GST. Commentary from 2022 mentions a $10 million figure, but the current code dated 1 September 2024 says $1 million. It applies to both threshold and high value contracts.
How long does a pre-assessment certificate take and cost?
There is no fee to apply, obtain or renew. The Fair Jobs Code Unit aims to give an outcome within 30 business days of a complete application, and suppliers are advised to apply at least that far ahead of a tender. A certificate lasts two years unless surrendered or revoked.
When do you need a Fair Jobs Code plan?
A plan is needed with a tender for a contract of $20 million or more, excluding GST, and a tender without it is excluded. For a significant grant, it is due within 12 months of the grant agreement. Threshold contracts between $1 million and $20 million need a certificate but no plan.
What does the Fair Jobs Code assess?
It looks at compliance with employment, industrial relations and workplace health and safety law over the previous three years, plus current compliance. Applicants disclose adverse rulings, enforceable undertakings and notices, including remedial action. The Unit weighs seriousness, whether conduct was isolated or systemic, and how the organisation responded.
Can a pre-assessment certificate be revoked?
Yes, including for failing to disclose adverse rulings or enforceable undertakings. Revocation or lapse must be notified to agencies within 10 business days, and agencies may seek contractual remedies. An applicant can ask for an internal review of a refusal or revocation within 30 business days of notice.
- Victorian Fair Jobs Code, 1 September 2024 (Victorian Government)
- Fair Jobs Code: Pre-assessment Certificate Guidelines for Suppliers and Businesses (Buying for Victoria)
- Fair Jobs Code plan guidelines for suppliers and businesses (Buying for Victoria)
- Procurement and Fair Jobs Code: agencies (Buying for Victoria)
- Fair Jobs Code - Fact sheet (Buying for Victoria)
Reviewed 4 November 2026. General information to help you plan reporting, not legal advice. Policies change, so check the current version with the policy owner before you rely on it.
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