Retail & Hospitality Pay Guide — Award Rates, Penalties & Your Rights

What Retail and Hospitality Workers Are Paid

Almost everyone in these two industries is covered by one of two modern awards: the General Retail Industry Award (MA000004) for shops and supermarkets, and the Hospitality Industry (General) Award (MA000009) for cafes, restaurants, pubs and hotels. Each sets a minimum rate for every classification level, and each has its own penalty rates, overtime rules and junior scales.

The two awards are not interchangeable, and if you work across both — a bistro attached to a bottle shop, say — the differences matter. Hospitality pays evening and night work as a flat cash amount per hour; retail uses a percentage. Retail casuals receive the casual loading on overtime; hospitality casuals do not. And juniors aged 19 get 85% in hospitality against 80% in retail.

Full classification tables, penalty rates, overtime and junior scales for each are on the dedicated pages: retail award rates and hospitality award rates. For junior rates across all awards, see junior pay rates.

Penalty Rates

Both retail and hospitality awards include penalty rate provisions for work performed outside standard weekday hours. The following table shows the penalty loadings that apply on top of the base hourly rate for full-time and part-time employees.

Penalty rates make weekend and holiday shifts significantly more valuable. A Level 1 retail worker earning $25.44/hr base receives $38.16/hr on a Sunday shift (+50%), and $63.60/hr on a public holiday (+150%). Use the Overtime Pay Calculator to model your penalty rate earnings.

Your Rights

Retail and hospitality workers have specific rights under the Fair Work Act and their respective Modern Awards that employers must comply with:

• Minimum engagement: Casual employees must be engaged for a minimum of 3 hours per shift under both the retail and hospitality awards. An employer cannot roster a casual for less than 3 hours, even if there is insufficient work.
• Roster change notice: Employers must provide at least 7 days' notice of any roster change under the retail award. The hospitality award also requires 7 days' notice, but allows changes with shorter notice by mutual agreement or in genuine emergencies.
• Casual conversion: Casual employees who have been employed for 12 months and have worked a regular pattern of hours for at least the last 6 months have the right to request conversion to permanent (full-time or part-time) employment. Since March 2021, employers must offer conversion unless there are reasonable business grounds to refuse.
• Breaks: Employees working more than 5 hours must receive an unpaid meal break of at least 30 minutes. Employees working more than 4 hours are entitled to a 10-minute paid rest break.

Take-Home Pay Examples

Below are take-home pay estimates for common retail and hospitality scenarios in FY2025-26:

Frequently Asked Questions