Fast Food Award Pay Rates 2026: What McDonald's, KFC & Hungry Jack's Must Pay

The Fast Food Industry Award 2020 (MA000003) is the modern award that sets minimum pay rates for workers at quick service restaurants across Australia. If you work at McDonald's, KFC, Hungry Jack's, Subway, Domino's, Guzman y Gomez, or any other fast food outlet, this award almost certainly covers you.

Some large chains have enterprise agreements that override the award (McDonald's has one, for example), but the EA can never pay less than the award. If your enterprise agreement is worse than the award on any individual term, the award rate applies for that term under the "better off overall test" (BOOT).

The rates below are effective from 1 July 2025 and will be updated following the Annual Wage Review in June 2026, with new rates typically effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.

The Fast Food Award has three classification levels based on the type of work you do:

Level	Description	Full-Time/Part-Time (per hr)	Casual (per hr, incl. 25% loading)
Level 1	Team member — food prep, counter service, cleaning, delivery	$24.53	$30.66
Level 2	Team member with additional responsibilities — training new staff, operating specialist equipment, stock management	$25.36	$31.70
Level 3	Shift supervisor or team leader — responsible for running a shift, supervising staff, cash reconciliation	$26.15	$32.69

Which level are you? If you're a standard crew member flipping burgers, serving customers, or making coffees, you're Level 1. If you're training new staff or running the fry station as the go-to person, you might be Level 2. If you're the one locking up and doing the till count, you're probably Level 3.

Check your payslip — your classification level should be noted. If it's not, and you're doing Level 2 or 3 work while being paid Level 1 rates, you're being underpaid.

The Fast Food Award uses a percentage-based junior rate system. If you're under 21, you receive a percentage of the adult rate for your classification level:

Age	% of Adult Rate	Level 1 (per hr)	Level 1 Casual (per hr)
Under 16	40%	$9.81	$12.26
16 years	50%	$12.27	$15.34
17 years	60%	$14.72	$18.40
18 years	70%	$17.17	$21.46
19 years	80%	$19.62	$24.53
20 years	90%	$22.08	$27.60

At 21, you move to the full adult rate. This happens from the first full pay period on or after your 21st birthday, not the day you turn 21. If your birthday is a Wednesday and your pay period starts on Monday, you won't get the adult rate until the following Monday.

Watch out: Some franchisees try to keep paying the junior rate after an employee turns 21, or they delay the age-based increase. Your rate should automatically step up with each birthday. If it doesn't, raise it immediately.

This is where fast food pay gets interesting — and where underpayment is most common. Penalty rates are calculated as a percentage of your base rate (not the casual rate).

For full-time and part-time employees:

When	Penalty	Level 1 Rate
Monday–Friday (ordinary hours)	100%	$24.53
Saturday	125%	$30.66
Sunday	150%	$36.80
Public Holiday	250%	$61.33
Late night (10pm–midnight, Mon–Fri)	110%	$26.98
After midnight	115%	$28.21

For casual employees:

When	Penalty (incl. casual loading)	Level 1 Rate
Monday–Friday (ordinary hours)	125%	$30.66
Saturday	150%	$36.80
Sunday	175%	$42.93
Public Holiday	275%	$67.46
Late night (10pm–midnight, Mon–Fri)	135%	$33.12
After midnight	140%	$34.34

Key point: These penalty rates apply to junior employees too, calculated on their junior base rate. A 17-year-old casual working Sunday at Level 1 gets 175% of $14.72 = $25.76/hr.

Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday often attract additional loadings under some enterprise agreements. Check your EA if you're working these days.

Overtime in the Fast Food Award applies when you work:

• More than 38 hours per week (for full-time employees)
• More than 12 hours in a single shift
• Beyond your rostered hours (for part-time employees, any hours beyond your guaranteed hours)

Overtime rates:

Overtime Period	Rate	Level 1 Adult
First 2 hours (Mon–Sat)	150%	$36.80
After 2 hours (Mon–Sat)	200%	$49.06
Sunday overtime	200%	$49.06
Public holiday overtime	250%	$61.33

Casual overtime: Casuals don't receive overtime for hours up to 38 per week (the 25% casual loading compensates for this). But if a casual works more than 38 hours in a week, or more than 12 hours in a shift, overtime rates apply — and the casual loading is not added on top of the overtime rate.

Minimum engagement: Each time you're rostered to work, you must be given a minimum of 3 consecutive hours. If your boss calls you in for a 2-hour shift, they still have to pay you for 3 hours. This applies to both casuals and part-timers.

"My boss pays me a flat rate regardless of when I work. Is that legal?"

Only if you're on an annualised salary arrangement or an enterprise agreement that specifically provides for this. Under the award, penalty rates are mandatory. A flat rate that averages out to less than what you'd get with penalties applied is unlawful.

"Do I get paid for the 10 minutes before/after my shift for setup and cleaning?"

Yes. If your employer requires you to be at work early to set up, or stay late to clean, that's working time and must be paid. If it pushes you over your rostered hours, it may trigger overtime rates.

"I'm a delivery driver for a fast food chain. Am I covered?"

If you're employed directly by the restaurant (not a third-party platform like Uber Eats or DoorDash), yes. The Fast Food Award covers delivery work performed by restaurant employees. Gig economy drivers have separate (and currently contested) entitlements.

"Can my employer change my roster without notice?"

Your employer must give you at least 7 days' notice of a roster change. For part-timers, changes to your guaranteed hours require your agreement.

"I'm being paid cash in hand at below award rates."

This is unlawful regardless of any verbal agreement. Cash payments don't exempt employers from award rates, penalty rates, super, or tax obligations. Report it to the Fair Work Ombudsman — complaints can be made anonymously.

Fast food workers are among the most underpaid in Australia. The Fair Work Ombudsman's compliance campaigns consistently find high rates of non-compliance in the fast food sector, particularly for penalty rates and junior rates.

Step 1: Use our pay calculator to work out your correct rate based on your age, classification, and the day/time you worked.

Step 2: Compare it to your payslip. Check every line — base rate, penalty rates, and super (11.5% of ordinary time earnings, rising to 12% from 1 July 2026).

Step 3: If there's a gap, calculate the total underpayment across all affected pay periods. You can go back six years.

Step 4: Raise it with your employer. For franchise operations, you can also escalate to the franchisor — under the Protecting Vulnerable Workers Act 2017, franchisors like McDonald's and KFC corporate can be held liable for underpayments at franchisee-operated stores if they knew or should have known about the breach.

Step 5: If they don't fix it within 14 days, lodge a complaint with the Fair Work Ombudsman at fairwork.gov.au or call 13 13 94. The FWO has dedicated fast food compliance teams and they have recovered millions in underpayments from major chains.

Remember: it's illegal for your employer to punish you for asking about your pay. If they cut your shifts, change your roster unfavourably, or sack you, that's adverse action and you've got a claim.