Cafe & Restaurant Pay Rates 2026: Barista, Waiter & Chef Award Rates

If you work in a cafe, restaurant, pub, bar, or catering business, you're most likely covered by the Hospitality Industry (General) Award (MA000009).

This award covers a huge range of roles:

• Front of house: waiters, baristas, hosts, bartenders
• Kitchen: chefs, cooks, kitchen hands, dishwashers
• Other: food runners, cleaners in hospitality venues, catering staff

The Hospitality Award is one of the most underpaid awards in the country in practice — not because the rates are low, but because non-compliance is rampant. Cash-in-hand payments, missing penalty rates, and unpaid trial shifts are widespread.

The Hospitality Award classifies workers into levels based on skill and responsibility. From 1 July 2025:

• Level 1 (kitchen hand, glassy, food runner): $24.73/hr
• Level 2 (waiter, barista, bar attendant, short order cook): $25.34/hr
• Level 3 (experienced waiter, cook grade 2, bar supervisor): $25.99/hr
• Level 4 (cook grade 3, head waiter): $26.73/hr
• Level 5 (tradesperson cook/chef): $27.84/hr
• Level 6 (head chef, sous chef in larger venue): $28.53/hr

If you're a qualified chef with a trade certificate, you should be on Level 5 at minimum. Being paid Level 1 or 2 rates while doing chef-level work is underpayment.

Most hospitality workers are casual. The 25% casual loading applies on top of the base rate:

• Level 1 casual: $30.91/hr
• Level 2 casual (barista/waiter): $31.68/hr
• Level 3 casual: $32.49/hr
• Level 5 casual (chef): $34.80/hr

The casual loading is there because you don't get annual leave, personal leave, or redundancy pay. If your employer is paying you a "flat rate" that doesn't include the loading, you're being ripped off.

Use our casual loading calculator to check your rate includes the loading.

Hospitality has some of the most complex penalty rate structures. For permanent Level 2 workers (waiter/barista):

• Saturday: 125% — $31.68/hr
• Sunday: 150% — $38.01/hr
• Public holidays: 225% — $57.02/hr
• Evening (after 7pm Mon-Fri): 115% — $29.14/hr
• Late night (after midnight): 125% — $31.68/hr

For casuals, the penalties are calculated differently — Sundays are 175% of base rate, public holidays are 250%.

These penalty rates are frequently ignored in hospitality. If you work Friday and Saturday nights, Sundays, or public holidays and your pay doesn't change from your weekday rate, that's a red flag.

Some things that are common in hospitality but often illegal:

• Unpaid trial shifts: A trial shift must be paid. If a cafe asks you to work a 4-hour "trial" for free, that's wage theft. Short, reasonable trials (1-2 hours, genuinely to assess your skills) may be unpaid, but anything beyond that should be paid
• Cash in hand: Getting paid cash with no payslip is a red flag. Your employer is probably avoiding tax, super, and workers comp — and you have no record if things go wrong
• Tips: Tips belong to you, not your employer. Your employer cannot count tips as part of your base rate to make up the award minimum. Tips are on top of your award rate
• "All-inclusive" rates: Some employers offer a flat hourly rate that supposedly includes penalties and loading. This is allowed, but only if the rate actually covers all your entitlements when you add them up. Often it doesn't

Hospitality has the highest rate of underpayment of any industry in Australia. Here's how to protect yourself:

• Get a payslip: Your employer must give you a payslip within 1 working day of pay day. If you're not getting payslips, that's a breach on its own
• Check your classification: Match your role to the award levels above. If you're doing Level 3 work on Level 1 pay, speak up
• Track your hours: Keep your own record of when you start and finish. Compare it to your payslip
• Check penalty rates: Weekend and evening shifts should show higher rates on your payslip
• Check your super: Log into your super fund and check contributions are being made. Many hospo employers skip super payments
• Report it: The Fair Work Ombudsman runs regular audits of hospitality businesses. You can report anonymously