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Award Guides

Hospitality Industry General Award Guide

August 24, 2022
0 min read
Award Guides

Table of contents:

Coverage:

The Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 covers employers and employees in the hospitality industry throughout Australia. 

This includes business such as : 

  • Hotels
  • Motor inns and motels
  • Boarding establishments
  • Condominiums
  • Health or recreational farms
  • Private hotels, guest houses or serviced apartments
  • Caravan parks
  • Ski lodges
  • Holiday flats or units, ranches or farms
  • Hostels or any other type of residential or tourist accommodation
  • Wine saloons, wine bars or taverns
  • Liquor booths
  • Resorts
  • Caterers 
  • Casinos

Key Takeaways:

  • The Hospitality Industry (General) Award is an industry-based award that covers employers and employees in the hospitality industry throughout Australia. 
  • As it operates to the exclusion of any other, where the Hospitality Industry (General) Award applies, there is no overlap in coverage with any other modern award.
  • In respect to work performed at a higher classification level by an employee this is deemed higher duties in which case a higher pay rate may apply.
  • There is an all-purpose allowance which is incorporated into the ordinary rate for calculation of penalties, loadings or annual leave; it comprises the following components:
    • Fork-lift driver allowance.
    • Airport supervisory allowance.
  • There are industry specific provisions that allow an employer to make the following deductions from employee pay subject to agreement:
    • Breakages or cashiering underings subject to agreement.
    • Provision of either meals or accommodation or both.
  • Time off to be taken by the employee instead of payment for overtime, subject to agreement.
  • Junior employees must not be required to work more than 10 hours in a shift, and if required to provide proof of age, must be repaid the costs of the proof of age certification.
  • Managerial staff salary absorption to allow for payment in the form of an annualised salary arrangement whereby separately identifiable entitlements are absorbed in the annual salary subject to meeting the conditions set out in Clause 25.
  • Loaded rate arrangement is able to be made whereby a loaded rate is paid to a full-time adult employee instead of different entitlements for each shift.
  • Coverage under this award extends to employees engaged under an apprenticeship or school-based apprenticeship arrangement.
  • Reimbursement to apprentice employees may be payable in connection with apprenticeship training which may include training fees, textbooks and travel costs. 

Hours of Work:

Days 

Span of Hours

Monday to Friday

7:00am - 9:00pm 

Saturday

7:00am - 6:00pm

Sunday

9:00am - 6:00pm


Breaks:

Hours worked per shift

Breaks

Meal Breaks

More than 5 hours and up to 6 

No rest break

Elective unpaid meal break 




More than 6 hours and up to 8 *

No rest break

Unpaid meal break longer than 30 minutes to be taken between the first 2 and 6 hours of work 

More than 8 hours and up to 10 *

Two 10 minute rest breaks

(or one 20 minute rest break)

Unpaid meal break longer than 30 minutes to be taken between the first 2 and 6 hours of work 

More than 10 hours *

Two 20 minute rest breaks 

Unpaid meal break longer than 30 minutes to be taken between the first 2 and 6 hours of work


*  If an employee is not allowed to take an unpaid meal break during a shift longer than 6 hours, the employer must pay 50% of the ordinary hourly rate extra from the end of 6 hours after starting work until they are allowed to take the break or the shift ends.

Overtime rates:

Over time hours 


(When overtime is worked)

FT and PT Employees


(% of minimum hourly rate of pay)

Casual Employees


(% of minimum hourly rate of pay; inclusive of casual loading)

Monday to Friday - First 2 hours

150%

150%

Monday to Friday - After 2 hours

200%

200%

Saturday

200%

200%

Sunday

200%

200%

Rostered Day Off

200%

200%

Public Holidays

225%

250%

Penalty rates

Time of ordinary hours worked 

FT and PT Employees


(% of minimum hourly rate of pay)

Casual Employees


(% of minimum hourly rate of pay; inclusive of casual loading)

Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 7:00pm

100%

125%

Monday to Friday, 7:00pm to midnight

100% plus $2.72 per hour or part thereof

125% plus $2.72 per hour or part thereof

Monday to Friday, midnight to 7:00am

100% plus $4.08 per hour or part thereof

125% plus $4.08 per hour or part thereof

Saturday

125%

150%

Sunday

150%

175%

Public holiday

225%

250%

Allowances:

All-purpose allowances 

Allowances paid for all purposes are included in the rate of pay of an employee who is entitled to the allowance, when calculating any penalties or loadings or payment while they are on annual leave.

Broken shift allowance - not casuals or loaded rate employees - time between periods of work is 2 hours and up to 3 hours

$3.41 per day

Broken shift allowance - not casuals or loaded rate employees - time between periods of work is more than 3 hours

$5.16 per day

Broken shift allowance - loaded rate employees - time between periods of work is more than 3 hours

$1.75 per day

First aid allowance

$12.39 per week (full-time employees)


$2.48 per day up to a maximum of $12.39 per week

Fork-lift driver allowance 

In addition to the minimum hourly rate set out in clause 18.1, an employer must pay an employee who is engaged to drive a fork-lift an all-purpose allowance of $0.41 per hour.


A part-time or casual fork-lift driver who was employed immediately prior to 23 January 2020 must be paid an additional allowance of $3.10 per day up to a maximum of $15.48 per week.

Special clothing allowance



Reimbursement of the cost of the waterproof or protective clothing


Laundry

A weekly laundry allowance as agreed between employee and employer, or reimbursed by the employee for all laundry costs.


Catering Employee

$6.00 per week for full-time employees

$2.05 for each uniform for part-time and casual 


Motel Employee

$2.40 per uniform laundered up to a maximum of $7.45 per week

Meal allowance - not casual employees

$16.31 for a meal

Overnight stay allowance

$61.94 per overnight stay period

Supervisor (in charge) allowance - airport catering employees 

$0.54 per hour (up to 5 employees)

$0.75 per hour (6 to 10 employees)

$0.84 per hour (11 to 20 employees)

$1.41 per hour (more than 20 employees)

Tool allowance - cooks or apprentice cooks 

$2.03 per day or part thereof up to a maximum of $9.94 per week

Travel allowance - airport catering employees

$8.45 for each day the employee attends work

Vehicle allowance - Managerial staff - hotels 

$0.99 per km

Working away from usual workplace allowance - not casual employees

the cost of fares reasonably spent in travelling from the usual place of work to the new place of work


* An all-purpose allowance, which should be incorporated into the ordinary rate of pay before applying the penalty or overtime rate.

Junior Employees:

A junior employee (other than junior office employees) must be paid a proportion of the adult minimum rate as follows:

Age 

% of adult minimum rate

Under 17 years of age

50%

17 years of age

60%

18 years of age

70%

19 years of age

80%

20 years of age

100%

A junior office employee must be paid a proportion of the adult minimum rate as follows:

Age 

% of adult minimum rate

Under 17 years of age

45%

16 years of age

55%

17 years of age

65%

18 years of age

75%

19 years of age

90%

20 years of age

100%

 

 

Junior employees working as liquor service employees must be paid as an adult in accordance with Table 3 - Minimum rates  of the Hospitality Industry (General) Award, for work performed at the relevant classification.

Annual leave:

Annual leave is available for full-time and part-time employees.  It does not apply to casual employees. Annual leave is provided for in the NES

Annual leave loading:

Annual leave loading is 17.5%.

Public holidays:

Public holiday entitlements are provided for in the NES

Subject to agreement, the employer is able to pay permanent employees 125% penalty and a day in lieu instead of the 225% penalty rate for work performed on a public holiday.

Recent Changes to Award:

  1. From 1 February 2023, all employees (including casuals) of non-small business employers can access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12 month period.
  2. From 1 August 2023, all employees (including casuals) of small business employers can access 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12 month period.
  3. If an employee starts work again without having had 12 hours off work, the employer must pay the employee for each hour worked at the rate of 200% of the employee’s minimum hourly rate until the employee has a break of 12 consecutive hours.
  4. The right to superannuation contributions as an entitlement under the National Employment Standards.

Disclaimer

Please note: The information contained in this Modern Award Interpretation Guide is sourced from the PaidRight knowledge database which is general in nature and does not constitute or is intended to be relied upon as legal advice or other professional opinion. The contents of this guide is subject to variation(s) to the Hospitality Industry General Award by Fair Work Commission decision or enactment of amended legislation. PaidRight does neither accept responsibility or provide guarantee or warranty (express or implied) regarding the accuracy, reliability or completeness; and, to the extent permitted by law, PaidRight does not accept legal liability for consequences arising out of use of this information. The information recipient is advised to obtain professional legal advice relevant to your specific circumstances.  Information updated as at 23 June 2024.

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