Christmas Casual Jobs 2026: Pay Rates, Hours, Public Holidays and Staying On After January

A Christmas casual is an ordinary casual employee hired for the busy stretch from about late October to the January sales. Retailers, supermarkets, warehouses, parcel networks and hospitality venues all hire extra staff over this period. There's no special "Christmas casual" category in the law. You get the same minimum pay, casual loading, penalty rates and rights as any other casual covered by your award or enterprise agreement.

Under the Fair Work Act, you're a casual because there's no firm advance commitment to ongoing work. In return you're paid a 25% casual loading on top of the base hourly rate. That loading replaces the paid annual leave, paid sick leave and notice of termination that permanent staff get. It's the main reason a casual hourly rate looks higher than a permanent one.

Most Christmas retail jobs fall under the General Retail Industry Award 2020 (MA000004), so the figures below use that award. Some big employers (Kmart, Coles, Woolworths, David Jones and Australia Post among them) pay under an enterprise agreement instead. The roundup further down links to our brand-by-brand guides. Whichever applies, your base rate can never fall below the award minimum.

These are the minimum casual rates for an adult Retail Employee Level 1, which covers shop assistants, checkout operators, shelf stackers and trolley collectors. They apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, and the casual loading is already included.

When you work (Retail Award, adult Level 1 casual)	% of $27.81 base	Hourly rate
Monday to Friday, ordinary hours	125%	$34.76
Monday to Friday after 6pm (late-night trading)	150%	$41.72
Saturday	150%	$41.72
Sunday	175%	$48.67
Public holiday (Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day)	250%	$69.53

Source: General Retail Industry Award 2020, clause 17.1 (base rate), clause 22.1 Table 12 and Schedule B.2.1. The casual column of Table 12 is "inclusive of casual loading", so you don't add 25% on top of these percentages.

Christmas jobs outside retail use different awards. These are the adult Level 1 casual minimums from 1 July 2026:

Award	Weekday	Saturday	Sunday	Public holiday
General Retail (MA000004)	$34.76	$41.72	$48.67	$69.53
Fast Food (MA000003), Level 1	$34.76	$41.72	$41.72	$69.53
Hospitality (MA000009), Level 1	$33.05	$39.66	$46.27	$66.10

Higher classifications are paid more. Work like operating a forklift (Retail Level 2) or supervising (Level 3 and up) should come with a higher rate, so check the duties you're actually doing against the penalty rates calculator.

Take an adult Level 1 casual in a department store. In mid-December they're rostered for:

• Thursday, 5 hours in the day: 5 × $34.76 = $173.80
• Saturday, 6 hours: 6 × $41.72 = $250.32
• Sunday, 5 hours: 5 × $48.67 = $243.35

That's $667.47 before tax for 16 hours, an average of about $41.72 an hour. Their employer also owes 12% super on that amount. Since 1 July 2026, under Payday Super, it has to reach your fund within 7 business days of each payday, so check your super account during the season, not just at tax time.

If this is a second job, claim the tax-free threshold on only one of your jobs, usually the one that pays more. Otherwise you can end up with a tax bill in July.

Over the 2026–27 holiday season:

• Christmas Day falls on Friday 25 December 2026 and is a public holiday everywhere.
• Boxing Day falls on Saturday 26 December 2026. Every state and territory has a public holiday on Monday 28 December. Saturday 26 December is also a public holiday everywhere except Tasmania (SA calls it the Proclamation Day holiday). Check your state on our public holiday calendar.
• New Year's Day falls on Friday 1 January 2027.
• Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are part-day public holidays in some places: from 6pm in Queensland (Christmas Eve), and from 7pm in South Australia and the Northern Territory.

A retail casual who works a public holiday gets 250% of the base rate, which is $69.53 an hour at adult Level 1. Six hours on a public holiday comes to $417.18. Fast food is the same at Level 1. Hospitality Level 1 is $66.10. Our public holiday rates tool covers other awards, and the full by-award breakdown, including the Clerks Award's higher 275% casual rate, is on our Christmas & NYE pay rates hub and in Christmas Day, Boxing Day & NYE pay rates 2026 by award.

Two rules catch casuals out:

• No work, no pay. Casuals aren't paid for a public holiday they don't work. Permanent staff are. (More in casual public holiday pay.)
• You can refuse if it's reasonable. Under section 114 of the Fair Work Act, an employer can only ask you to work a public holiday if the request is reasonable, and you can refuse on reasonable grounds. Family responsibilities, how much notice you got, the penalty rate on offer, and whether working holidays was made clear when you were hired all count. A Christmas job advertised as including Boxing Day sales makes a refusal harder to justify.

Casuals aren't guaranteed a set number of hours each week. That's the trade-off for the loading. But each shift has a minimum:

• Retail: at least 3 hours per engagement (clause 11.2). The only exception is a full-time secondary school student working between 3pm and 6:30pm on a school day. With a parent's or guardian's approval, and only if a longer shift isn't possible, that shift can be 1.5 hours (clause 11.3).
• Hospitality: at least 2 consecutive hours each time you're required to attend (clause 11.3).

If you're sent home after an hour, you're still owed the minimum. Ordinary retail hours run 7am to 9pm Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm Saturday and 9am to 6pm Sunday. The weekday and weekend spans extend to 11pm where the store trades late (clause 15.2(c)). The award caps ordinary hours at 9 a day, or 11 on one day a week. Long or out-of-span shifts can attract overtime rates on top. Our minimum shift length guide covers other awards.

Under the Retail Award, Level 1 to 3 employees under 21 are paid a percentage of the adult rate. Here are the junior casual rates for Level 1 from 1 July 2026, straight from Schedule B.3.4 of the award:

Age	% of adult	Weekday	After 6pm / Saturday	Sunday	Public holiday
Under 16	45%	$15.64	$18.77	$21.89	$31.28
16	50%	$17.39	$20.87	$24.34	$34.78
17	60%	$20.86	$25.04	$29.21	$41.73
18	70%	$24.34	$29.21	$34.07	$48.68
19	80%	$27.81	$33.38	$38.94	$55.63
20, employed 6 months or less	90%	$31.29	$37.55	$43.80	$62.58
20, employed more than 6 months	100%	$34.76	$41.72	$48.67	$69.53

The 1 December 2026 change. In March 2026 the Fair Work Commission decided to phase out junior rates for 18 to 20-year-olds under the Retail, Fast Food and Pharmacy awards ([2026] FWCFB 75). The first step starts from 1 December 2026. It only applies to workers with more than 6 months' employment with their current employer, who move up a step towards the adult rate. It isn't the full adult rate yet, and under-18 rates don't change.

For most Christmas casuals, that means nothing changes this December. If you start in October or November, you won't have 6 months' service by 1 December. The 6 months is counted with your current employer only, so time at a previous job doesn't help. If you're kept on into 2027, the higher step applies once you pass 6 months. Our junior rates change calculator shows the step for your age.

Big seasonal employers don't all pay straight from the award. Some have enterprise agreements, and some add commission or their own pay levels. Our brand guides cover each one in detail, so here's where to look:

Employer	What sets the pay	Our guide
Kmart	Kmart National Agreement 2024 (sits above the Retail Award)	Kmart pay rates 2026 · Kmart agreement explained
Big W	No national store agreement on the register; the Retail Award floor applies	Big W pay rates 2026 · What covers Big W workers
Target	Retail Award rates by age, casual loading and penalties	Target pay rates 2026
Myer	Retail Award adult and junior rates	Myer pay rates 2026
David Jones	David Jones Enterprise Agreement 2024, with the Retail Award as the floor	David Jones pay rates 2026
JB Hi-Fi	Base hourly rate plus commission	JB Hi-Fi pay rates 2026
Coles	Coles enterprise agreement (sits above the Retail Award)	Coles pay rates 2026 · Coles agreement
Woolworths	Woolworths Australian Food Group Agreement 2024	Woolworths pay rates 2026 · Woolworths agreement
Australia Post	Australia Post Enterprise Agreement 2024 pay levels	Australia Post pay rates 2026

Whichever applies, the base rate in an enterprise agreement can't be lower than the award base rate for the same work. If your hourly rate is under $34.76 as an adult retail casual, ask your employer which instrument they're paying you under.

If the job ends after Christmas or the January sales:

• No notice needed. Casuals aren't entitled to notice of termination under the National Employment Standards. Your employer can simply stop rostering you, unless your contract or enterprise agreement says otherwise. The Fair Work Ombudsman says confirming the end in writing is best practice, and it's worth asking for.
• Final pay within 7 days. Under the Retail Award, your employer must pay everything owed no later than 7 days after your employment ends (clause 18.4). Casuals don't accrue annual leave, so there's no leave payout.
• Unfair dismissal is usually off the table. You can only claim unfair dismissal after a minimum employment period of 6 months, or 12 months with a small business. Casual time counts towards that only if your work was regular and systematic and you reasonably expected it to continue. A two or three-month Christmas contract rarely gets there. General protections still apply in full, though. You can't be let go for making a complaint about your pay, taking sick leave, or because of your age, pregnancy or another protected attribute. (More in casual unfair dismissal rights and what to do if your shifts stop.)

If they keep you on:

• You stay a casual unless you're offered, and accept, a part-time or full-time job. Being kept on doesn't make you permanent by itself.
• From 26 August 2024, employers no longer have to offer casual conversion. Instead, under the employee choice pathway, you can give your employer written notice that you want to become permanent. You can do this once you've worked at least 6 months (or 12 months if they're a small business with fewer than 15 employees) and believe you no longer fit the definition of a casual, for example because you're now working a regular, predictable roster.
• Your employer must consult you and reply in writing within 21 days. They can only refuse on set grounds: you still meet the casual definition, there are fair and reasonable operational grounds, or accepting would break a legally required recruitment process.

For someone who started in October, that means April or May 2027 at the earliest. Our casual conversion checker works out your date, and casual conversion 2026 walks through the notice.

If you're taking on extra staff for the Christmas peak, here's the short checklist:

• Get the instrument and level right. Work out whether the Retail Award, another award or your enterprise agreement applies, and classify by the duties each person will actually do. Forklift and supervisory work aren't Level 1. Under the Retail Award, you must tell employees their classification in writing (clause 14.3).
• Give the statements on day one. Every new casual needs the Fair Work Information Statement and the Casual Employment Information Statement, either before they start or as soon as possible after. If you keep seasonal staff on, give the casual statement again after 6 and 12 months (or after 12 months if you're a small business).
• Roster to the minimums. In retail, pay at least 3 hours per shift (1.5 hours only for the school-student exception). Late-night trading after 6pm is paid at 150% for casuals, not the ordinary 125%.
• Public holidays. Requests to work Christmas, Boxing Day or the substitute day must be reasonable (s 114). Say so in the job ad and the offer if holiday trading is part of the role. Retail casuals get 250% of the minimum hourly rate.
• Junior staff and 1 December. The first junior rates step applies only to 18 to 20-year-olds with more than 6 months' service under the Retail, Fast Food and Pharmacy awards. New seasonal hires won't qualify this December, but returning casuals from last year might.
• Ending it cleanly. Casuals need no notice under the NES, but confirm the end date in writing, pay everything within 7 days (Retail Award cl 18.4), and make sure super has been paid on every payday.
• If you keep them on, know the employee choice rules. An employee on a regular roster for 6 months (12 for small business) can give notice to become permanent, and you have 21 days to respond.

The Christmas shutdown checker covers close-down rules for your permanent staff.

What is the Christmas casual pay rate per hour in 2026?

For an adult retail worker at Level 1 it's at least $34.76 an hour Monday to Friday, $41.72 after 6pm and on Saturdays, $48.67 on Sundays and $69.53 on public holidays. Those are the General Retail Industry Award minimums from 1 July 2026, with the casual loading already included. Enterprise agreement and higher-level rates can be more.

Do Christmas casuals get paid more on Christmas Day?

Yes, if you work it. Retail and fast food casuals get 250% of the base rate ($69.53 an hour at adult Level 1), and hospitality casuals get $66.10. If you don't work the public holiday, you're not paid for it.

Do Christmas casuals get holiday pay or annual leave?

No. The 25% casual loading is paid instead of annual leave and paid sick leave. You can still take up to 2 days' unpaid carer's leave and 2 days' unpaid compassionate leave on each occasion, plus paid family and domestic violence leave.

Can a Christmas casual job turn permanent?

It can if your employer offers it, and you can ask. You can't force it straight away. Under the employee choice rules, you can give written notice once you've worked 6 months (12 with a small business) and are no longer working like a casual.

Do I have to be told if I'm not being kept on after Christmas?

Not legally, unless your contract or agreement requires it. But you must get your final pay within 7 days under the Retail Award.

Does the 1 December 2026 junior rate change mean I get the adult rate?

No. It's the first step of a phase-in, and only for 18 to 20-year-olds with more than 6 months at their current employer under the Retail, Fast Food or Pharmacy awards. Under the Retail Award, 20-year-olds with more than 6 months' service are already on the full adult rate.