Zambrero Pay Rates 2026: Crew, Junior & Shift Supervisor Pay

Zambrero is the Mexican quick-service chain that has grown to several hundred restaurants, almost all of them franchised. Crew roles are burrito-line, front counter, prep and shift leadership, and the workforce is young and mostly casual — which makes the junior rates the most-searched question about Zambrero pay.

Zambrero crew are covered by the Fast Food Industry Award 2020, the same award as McDonald's, KFC and Guzman y Gomez. Because your employer is the franchisee, there is no single Zambrero enterprise agreement; the award ladder and junior percentages below are the rates to check your payslip against.

The federal awards relevant to Zambrero roles:

• Fast Food Industry Award 2020 (MA000003)

From 1 July 2026 the Fast Food Industry Award 2020 (MA000003) adult minimums are:

The award's evening, weekend and public holiday loadings apply on top — the fast food award's penalty structure changed in recent years, so check your exact shift with the penalty rates calculator rather than a remembered percentage.

Source: Fair Work Commission modern awards pay database, current-operative rates (1 July 2026 annual wage review). Casual figures add the 25% casual loading.

The Fast Food Industry Award pays juniors a percentage of the Level 1 adult rate. From 1 July 2026 the junior minimums are:

• Under 16: $11.12/hr
• 16 years: $13.91/hr
• 17 years: $16.69/hr
• 18 years: $19.47/hr
• 19 years: $22.25/hr
• 20 years: $25.03/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.

As at 6 September 2026, our corpus of 14,141 federally registered enterprise agreements holds no current agreement for Zambrero. 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 Zambrero, it beats the award figures above.

General award-compliance issues that come up across the fast food sector. This is a checklist for your own payslip, not a finding about Zambrero:

• Junior rate not stepping up on birthdays, or the adult rate not kicking in at 21.
• Unpaid opens and closes — set-up, clean-down and cash-up before or after the rostered shift are work time.
• Level 1 for shift-supervisor work — running a shift or being in charge of others is Level 2–3.
• Late-night and weekend loadings missing, especially on flat 'all-in' rates offered to casuals.

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.