Which award covers the staff of a solar business in Australia?

Why getting the award wrong becomes a bigger problem than it looks

A wrong award or classification on even one hire rarely stays a small paperwork issue for long. Most solar installers grow their crew by adding roles one at a time, an install tech, an electrician for switchboard connections, a salesperson chasing leads, someone to chase rebate certificates and network approval, without ever checking which award actually covers each person doing that work.

The owner usually ends up carrying everything else, the quoting, the marketing, the accreditation paperwork and the staff questions, because nobody set the basics of the role, including its award and its pay, before the business grew into it. That pressure flows straight onto the crew. Staff working to unclear expectations, on the wrong classification or unsure what their role is actually worth, are the ones most likely to make a mistake on roof access, miss a step in a warranty claim or simply call in sick.

Which award covers employees installing solar panels?

If the work is physically installing the panels, on the roof and ready for connection, the Fair Work Ombudsman says this sits under the Manufacturing Award. That is the starting point for most install teams in a solar installer’s business, separate from whoever later wires the system into the switchboard.

According to the Award coverage for employees installing and connecting solar panels page, “The Manufacturing Award covers employees installing solar panels.” That is the position for the install side of the job, whether it is a small residential roof or a larger commercial solar install with a bigger system size and a longer run of roof access and scaffolding. It does not automatically follow that the same award covers everyone else who touches that job, because the work of connecting the system to power is treated separately.

Which award covers employees connecting panels to the switchboard, or working as an electrical contractor?

Once the work moves to connecting panels to the switchboard, or the business is operating as an electrical contractor, the Fair Work Ombudsman says the Electrical Award [MA000025] applies instead. That covers employees doing that wiring work, the businesses that provide electrical services by contract, and labour hire staff placed into electrical services contracting.

The Electrical Award MA000025 coverage page says plainly, “The Electrical Award covers employees who work for electrical contractors and connect solar panels to electrical switchboards.” The page also notes that “Contractors means businesses who provide electrical services by contract,” and that the award covers labour hire businesses and their employees placed into the electrical services contracting industry. For a solar installer running both install crews and an in-house electrician, or using subbies for the grid connection and accreditation sign-off, that can mean two different awards sitting over one job.

What about sales, admin and other roles in the business?

Neither page sets out which award covers a salesperson chasing leads, an office person processing rebate paperwork, or a service technician handling warranty claims, service calls and monitoring faults after the install. That depends on the actual duties of the role, and it needs checking against the Fair Work Ombudsman’s award pages or with a qualified adviser rather than assumed from the installer or electrician roles around it.

This matters beyond compliance. A solar business trying to stand out to attract good staff only gets there once the basics of each role, including correct pay and classification, are right first. A sales hire on the wrong classification, or an admin person without clear entitlements, inherits the same confusion as everyone else on the crew, before the business has even worked out how to compete for talent.

How do you keep classification and paperwork current as the crew grows?

The number that actually tells you the truth here is not a feeling about who is doing what, it is the role and duties sitting against your own pay and job records, role by role, updated as the crew changes. Memory of who was hired as what two years ago is usually out of date by the time a new panel install, a new switchboard job or a new sales hire comes along.

This is where data first thinking matters for a growing solar installer. Instead of relying on what the owner remembers about who was classified how, the actual record of duties, hours and pay against each role shows where coverage is unclear before it becomes a Fair Work issue. AI agents, software that does a job the way the owner would, using their own pay rules and wording, can carry the non-billable side of this, keeping the paperwork and records current as new install techs, electricians or sales staff come on. That is not about avoiding the question of which award applies, it is about the business having an accurate, current answer instead of a guess made under pressure during a busy season. AI agents built around a solar installer’s own records free the owner from chasing this manually between site visits and quotes.

This is general information, not legal, tax or employment advice. Check your own situation with the body named here or a qualified adviser.

Where can you check the current rules?

These two pages are published by the Fair Work Ombudsman and apply in Australia. New Zealand does not run on a system of modern awards, so a solar installer operating in New Zealand needs to check staff pay and entitlements against New Zealand’s own employment framework rather than assume either Australian award applies.

• Electrical Award MA000025 summary, covers employees connecting solar panels to electrical switchboards, electrical contractors, and labour hire businesses placed into electrical services contracting.
• Award coverage for employees installing and connecting solar panels, sets out that the Manufacturing Award covers employees installing solar panels, and the Electrical Award covers those connecting panels to the switchboard.

How does Data First Coaching approach this?

Data First Coaching starts from a solar installer’s own staff and pay records through the Trade Business Intelligence, not from a general explanation of the business. Greg Allan built his coaching from running his own trade business, where he says, “I was the general manager. I was the sales. I was the marketing. I was the ops manager.” Getting the award, classification and pay right for each role is one of the foundations that stops a solar installer carrying that same load as the crew grows. The how, working through each role against the owner’s own data, is worked through inside the Academy, with members, because the Trade Business Intelligence is powered by every member and the Academy is for owners who are open minded, innovative and willing to share what they learn.