Coffee Club Pay Rates 2026: Crew, Kitchen & Junior Pay
What Coffee Club workers should be paid in 2026 — the Restaurant Industry Award floor by classification and age, casual loading, penalties, and where the Coffee Club enterprise agreements sit.
Senior Workplace Relations Writer · GradDip Employment Relations, Griffith University
Who covers Coffee Club workers — award or agreement?
The Coffee Club is one of the country's largest café and casual dining franchises, with stores in shopping centres, airports and standalone sites across every state. Its teams are built around casual baristas, kitchen staff and table-service waitstaff, usually working under a franchisee who owns and runs the individual store.
Coffee Club roles are covered by the Restaurant Industry Award 2020, which applies to table-service cafés and restaurants and sets separate rates for food and beverage attendants, baristas and kitchen staff. Our corpus holds no current Coffee Club enterprise agreement, so the award tables below are what should be on your payslip unless your contract or a newer agreement says otherwise.
The federal awards relevant to Coffee Club roles:
- Restaurant Industry Award 2020 (MA000119)
Restaurant award floor — adults (21 and over)
From 1 July 2026 the Restaurant Industry Award 2020 (MA000119) adult minimums are:
| Classification | Permanent | Casual (incl. 25%) |
|---|---|---|
| Introductory level (first 3 months, no experience) | $25.74/hr | $32.17/hr |
| Level 1 (food and beverage attendant grade 1, kitchen hand) | $26.44/hr | $33.05/hr |
| Level 2 (attendant grade 2, cook grade 1) | $27.08/hr | $33.85/hr |
| Level 3 (attendant grade 3, cook grade 2) | $27.97/hr | $34.96/hr |
| Level 4 (attendant grade 4, cook grade 3 — trade qualified) | $29.45/hr | $36.81/hr |
| Level 5 (supervisor, cook grade 4) | $31.30/hr | $39.13/hr |
| Level 6 (cook grade 5 — tradesperson) | $32.13/hr | $40.16/hr |
Weekend, late-night and public holiday penalties apply on top of these — check a specific shift with the penalty rates calculator.
Source: Fair Work Commission modern awards pay database, current-operative rates (1 July 2026 annual wage review). Casual figures add the 25% casual loading.
Junior rates (under 21)
The Restaurant Industry Award pays juniors a percentage of the Level 1 adult rate. From 1 July 2026 the junior minimums are:
- Under 17: $13.22/hr
- 17 years: $15.87/hr
- 18 years: $18.51/hr
- 19 years: $22.48/hr
- 20 years: $26.44/hr
Your rate must step up from the first full pay period after each birthday. Casual juniors add the 25% loading on top of these figures. An enterprise agreement's junior scale must leave you better off than this ladder overall.
Does Coffee Club have an enterprise agreement?
As at 25 September 2026, our corpus of 14,141 federally registered enterprise agreements holds no current agreement for Coffee Club. That usually means one of three things: the employer pays on the award (or on individual contracts above it), the agreement covering you is registered under a different entity name (check the employer name on your payslip and search our agreements database), or — for state public-sector employers — pay is set by a state award or agreement outside the federal register. If you have a copy of an agreement that names Coffee Club, it beats the award figures above.
Common restaurant pay issues at Coffee Club
The patterns worth checking on a Coffee Club payslip:
- Flat rates that don't beat the penalties — an 'all-in' hourly rate must leave you better off than the award's weekend, late-night and public holiday loadings for your actual roster.
- Unpaid set-up and pack-down before opening and after close.
- Introductory level for too long — it is a three-month, no-experience rate, not a permanent grade.
- Split and broken shifts without the award's allowances, and casual shifts under the minimum engagement.
What to do if your pay looks wrong
Match your payslip to your classification in the agreement (or the award tables above), and price any gap with our back-pay calculator. Raise it in writing with payroll or your manager first — most underpayments are fixed at that step. Unresolved, the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) recovers underpayments at no cost, up to six years back, and your union can run the claim for you. Not sure which instrument covers you? Ask our AI advisor with your role and location.
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Official resources
General information and estimates only — not legal, financial or tax advice. Always check your specific award, agreement or contract, or a qualified professional, before you rely on the result.
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Nine years in Australian workplace relations — Queensland hospitality HR, then retail ER in Brisbane and Northern NSW. Graduate Diploma in Employment Relations (Griffith University, 2018). Writes about award interpretation, underpayment recovery, and casual conversion. Member of the AHRI since 2019. Based in Paddington, Brisbane.