Award pay rates update
NEW minimum wage rates came into effect on 1 July 2019 to and there are a few things you should know:
- The quickest way to get the new rates is through its Pay and Conditions Tool (PACT).
- You can also get the new award rates from its downloadable pay guides.
- The increase only applies to employees that get their pay rates from the national minimum wage, a modern award, or a registered agreement (in some cases).
- The increase doesn’t affect employees who are already getting paid more than the minimum wage. Visit Fair Work for more information on who the increase applies to.
- The new pay rates apply from the first full pay period commencing on or after 1 July 2019. So if your pay week is from Monday to Sunday (one week), the new rates take effect on Monday 1 July.
- If your pay period runs over two weeks and runs into the beginning of July, the new pay rates commence after this pay period ends.
What’s changing?
The following pay rates are inclusive of the 2019 wage increase and are the minimum rates of pay for 21 years of age and over.
| Classification | Full time - weekly (38 hours) $ | Full and part time (per hour) $ | Casual (per hour) $ |
| Level 1 | 813.60 | 21.41 | 26.76 |
| Level 2 | 862.50 | 22.70 | 28.38 |
| Level 3 - in charge of 0-1 persons | 875.80 | 23.05 | 28.81 |
| Level 3 - in charge of 2 or more persons | 886.50 | 23.33 | 29.16 |
The superannuation rate remains at 9.5%.
Level 1: An employee engaged in the preparation, the receipt of orders, cooking, sale, serving or delivery of meals, snacks and/or beverages which are sold to the public primarily to take away or in food courts in shopping centres. A fast food employee level 1 will undertake duties as directed within the limits of their competence, skills and training including incidental cleaning and cleaning of toilets.
Level 2: An employee who has the major responsibility on a day to day basis for supervising Fast food employees level 1 and/or training new employees or an employee required to exercise trade skills.
Level 3 – in charge of people: An employee appointed by the employer to be in charge of a shop, food outlet, or delivery outlet.
Don’t forget; all staff, whether permanent or casual, must have a long service leave accrual. The accrual rate is 0.02 hours for every hour worked. For example, if staff work 30 hours per week, the accrual would be 30 hours x 0.02 which equals 0.6 hours per weekly wage.
If you’d like more information, visit the Fair Work website.
