From three systems to one: Mount Lofty Estate unifies HR and payroll in the cloud

About the business

Mount Lofty Estate manages two award-winning South Australian properties, Mount Lofty House and Sequoia Luxury Lodge, employing over 160 staff across accommodation, dining, events and spa services. As part of a wider hotel group that includes The Reef House in Palm Cove, the Estate needed a reliable system to manage multiple employee types and locations with ease.

The challenge

Before Employment Hero, the business relied on legacy systems, which made managing payroll and rosters across departments slow and manual.

With no dedicated HR department, the finance team needed an all-in-one system that could automate onboarding, ensure award compliance and deliver real-time workforce visibility.

The solution

Employment Hero gave Mount Lofty Estate the flexibility to manage payroll and HR for both Mount Lofty House and Sequoia from a single, cloud-based platform.

“We can roster our people between Sequoia and Mount Lofty House. It’s all part of the same company, which is really smart that the platform allows us to roster between locations,” said Group Finance Controller, Simon Aldrich.

Digital onboarding templates, built-in award updates, and seamless payroll reports on profit and loss have significantly reduced manual work.

“With all the templates in Employment Hero, it’s very simple to produce a contract. It’s user-friendly and easy to update when we need to.”

The ROI

• Cloud-based payroll and onboarding – no manual backups or paper files
• Full workforce visibility across two properties and multiple departments
• Confidence in award compliance through automated updates

“The impact of having everything in one system is that the business gets smarter. I can see training records instantly and know everyone’s up to date.”

Why it matters

“Employment Hero makes payroll simple and flexible. It gives us confidence we’re paying people correctly and frees us up to focus on the guest experience.”

For a hospitality business that runs seven days a week, Employment Hero delivers operational control, compliance assurance and real-time insights, giving managers the freedom to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional service.