David Jones Pay Rates 2026: Hourly Rates, Junior & Casual Pay

David Jones store staff are covered by the David Jones Enterprise Agreement 2024 — a single national agreement approved in April 2024 with a nominal expiry of 22 April 2028. Like Myer, David Jones pays under its own agreement rather than straight award rates.

The safety net underneath is the General Retail Industry Award 2020 (MA000004). The agreement sets rates above the award — the agreement document is the source for the actual David Jones grid, and the award figures below are the floor it must beat. If you want your exact legal minimum by age and employment type, start with our retail worker pay rate tool.

From 1 July 2026, the General Retail Industry Award adult minimums — the least any David Jones adult employee can lawfully be paid:

Source: Fair Work Commission modern awards pay database, rates operative from 1 July 2026. Commission-and-retainer arrangements in concession areas and beauty halls still have to clear these minimums for every hour worked — commission tops up the wage, it never substitutes for it.

The award's junior ladder, as a percentage of the adult Level 1 rate, from 1 July 2026:

• Under 16: 45% — $12.51/hr permanent / $15.64/hr casual
• 16 years: 50% — $13.91/hr / $17.38/hr
• 17 years: 60% — $16.69/hr / $20.86/hr
• 18 years: 70% — $19.47/hr / $24.33/hr
• 19 years: 80% — $22.25/hr / $27.81/hr
• 20 years: 90% — $25.03/hr / $31.29/hr (100% — $27.81/hr — after 6 months with the employer)

Your rate must step up from the first full pay period after each birthday. The Fair Work Commission is also phasing 18–20 year olds in retail onto adult rates — see the junior rates decision explainer for the current state of that change. Check whether the David Jones agreement's own junior scale is more generous before assuming these figures are yours.

Award floor penalties for a permanent adult Level 1 ($27.81/hr):

• Evening (after 6pm, Monday–Friday): 125% — $34.76/hr
• Saturday: 125% — $34.76/hr
• Sunday: 150% — $41.72/hr
• Public holiday: 225% — $62.57/hr

Casuals: Saturday 150% ($41.72/hr), Sunday 175% ($48.67/hr), public holidays 250% ($69.53/hr) — the 25% loading added to the permanent penalty percentage of the unloaded base. The enterprise agreement's penalty structure differs from the award's; as a package it must leave you better off overall, and boxing-day-style trading weekends are exactly where to test that on your own payslip.

Worth checking:

• Agreement vs award drift — agreement rates are fixed by their schedule while the award floor rises every 1 July; later in an agreement's life the gap narrows. The floor above always wins if the agreement rate falls under it.
• Junior birthday steps missed — same failure mode as every retailer; check the first payslip after a birthday.
• Concession blur — brand concession staff inside a David Jones store may be employed by the brand, not David Jones. Your payslip's employer name decides which agreement or award applies to you.
• Higher duties — running a department or holding keys at Level 1 pay is a classification underpayment under the award structure above.

Compare three months of payslips against your roster with our back-pay calculator — price it at the agreement rate if you know it, or the award floor above as the conservative baseline. Raise the numbers in writing with your store's people lead; the SDA can assist members with agreement issues. If it stalls, the Fair Work Ombudsman is on 13 13 94, and underpayments are recoverable for six years.