Hospitality — Awards, Pay Rates & Compliance
The hospitality industry employs over 1 million Australians across cafes, restaurants, hotels, pubs, clubs, and fast-food outlets. The Hospitality Industry (General) Award, Restaurant Industry Award, and Fast Food Industry Award set minimum pay rates, penalty rates for nights/weekends/public holidays, casual loading, junior rates, break entitlements, and split-shift allowances. Wage theft is widespread — the Fair Work Ombudsman recovered over $50 million in unpaid wages in hospitality in the last 5 years.
1M+
Workers covered
6.6%
Hospitality CTR on FWM tools
$50M+
Wages recovered (FWO 5yr)
Awards covering hospitality
Modern Awards set the minimum pay rates, penalty rates, allowances, and entitlements for each industry. Click through for full details and the interactive calculator.
Common hospitality roles
Compliance focus areas
The 5 most common compliance issues in hospitality. Get these right and you avoid 90% of underpayment claims.
Penalty rates on weekends and public holidays
Saturday penalty (1.25x for permanent, 1.5x for casual including loading), Sunday penalty (1.5x for permanent, 1.75x for casual including loading), public holiday penalty (2.25x for permanent, 2.5x for casual including loading) under the Hospitality Award.
Casual loading on top of penalty rates
The Hospitality Award uses 'compounded' casual overtime — the 25% loading applies on top of the penalty rate, not just the base. Many employers get this wrong.
Junior rates
Hospitality has its own junior rate schedule that differs from the standard. 16-year-olds earn 50% of the adult rate, 17-year-olds 60%, 18-year-olds 70%, and 19-year-olds 80%.
Minimum engagement (casuals)
Casual hospitality workers are entitled to a minimum 2-hour shift each time they're called in. Some sub-classifications have higher minimums.
Break entitlements
30-minute unpaid meal break for shifts over 5 hours; 10-minute paid rest break for shifts over 4 hours. Split shifts attract additional allowances.
Calculators for hospitality
Free, instant calculators covering pay rates, penalty rates, casual loading, and eligibility checks for the hospitality industry.
Hospitality Award Pay Rates
Level 1-6 base + casual rates, all classifications.
Penalty Rate Calculator
Saturday, Sunday, and public holiday rates by award.
Shift Pay Calculator
Calculate gross pay for a single shift.
Casual Loading Calculator
25% loading + penalty rate combined math.
Casual Conversion Eligibility
Are you eligible to convert to permanent?
Am I Being Underpaid?
Check your pay against the award.
Hospitality enforcement decisions
Real Fair Work Commission, Federal Court, and FWO outcomes in this industry.
FairWork Mate for Business
Award coverage in hospitality is rarely one award.
Coverage turns on what the business does and what each person does inside it — which is how underpayments start. The advisor works out which award applies to each role, checks the rates and penalties against the current instrument, and cites the decisions behind it. 150 questions a month, cancel anytime.
Managing a team? Business Solo adds the full AI HR team, the WHS advisor and branded exports.
Get Hospitality pay rate updates
Free alerts when hospitality award rates change (annually 1 July) or when major decisions affect the industry.
Free forever. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.