Hailey Tran
The Hospitality Industry (General) Award, also known as the Hospitality Award, is a modern award that sets out the minimum entitlements and rates of pay for employees in the hospitality industry in Australia. It covers a broad range of professions and workers within the industry, including food and beverage assistants, guest services, cooks, chefs, kitchen attendants, and gardeners. The award includes provisions for overtime, penalty rates, and allowances, as well as annual leave and public holidays. It is important for employers to correctly classify their employees to ensure they are paying the correct rates and providing the appropriate entitlements. The Hospitality Award is a key employment standard in Australia, covering nearly half a million workers in the country's hospitality sector.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Description | The Hospitality Award is a key employment standard across Australia, covering nearly half a million workers in the hospitality sector. |
| Industries Covered | All types of tourist or residential accommodation, including hotels, motels, serviced apartments, resorts, and caravan parks. Nightclubs, function areas, convention facilities, and restaurants connected with employers covered by the Hospitality Award. |
| Businesses Not Covered | Clubs registered or recognised under state or territory legislation, theme parks, contract cleaning businesses (if not exclusive to hospitality), senior management, contract security, gardening, or maintenance businesses not primarily in hospitality, and businesses primarily concerned with the sale of petroleum. |
| Employees Covered | Food, beverage, and gaming attendants (including bar staff and waiters), cooks, chefs, kitchen attendants, storepersons, front office staff, door persons/security officers, gardeners, and more. |
| Employees Not Covered | Senior managers, company secretaries, chief accountants, human resource managers, venue managers, etc. |
| Employee Classifications | Full-time, part-time, and casual employees. |
| Guaranteed Hours | Changes to guaranteed hours require a written agreement with the employee. Employees can change availability with 14 days' written notice for ongoing personal circumstances changes. |
| Annualised Salary Arrangements | Employers must pay employees an annual salary that includes all entitlements. This does not apply to casual employees or employees within the Managerial Staff (Hotels) classification level. |
| Overtime | Employees must be paid for a minimum of 4 hours of overtime on a rostered or accrued day off, unless it is part of a normal roster or continuous from the previous day. Employees can agree to take time off instead of overtime pay. |
| Meal Breaks | If an employee works more than 6 hours without an unpaid meal break, they must be paid an additional 50% of their ordinary hourly rate until a break is taken or the shift ends. |
| Rest Breaks | If an employee works more than 5 hours after an unpaid meal break or more than 2 hours overtime, they are entitled to an additional 20-minute paid rest break. |
| Annual Leave | Employees are entitled to 4 weeks of paid annual leave per year, plus an additional week for some shift workers. Casual employees are not covered. |
| Leave Loading | A rate of 17.5% leave loading is applied when an employee takes paid annual leave. |
| Superannuation Contributions | Employers must contribute 11.5% of an employee's ordinary earnings to a nominated fund if the employee earns more than $350 before tax in a calendar month. |
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What You'll Learn
Who does the Hospitality Award cover?
The Hospitality Award covers employers in the hospitality industry and their employees who fit within the classifications of the award. This includes labour hire businesses and their employees who are placed with an organisation in the hospitality industry. Nearly half a million workers in Australia's hospitality sector are covered by the Hospitality Award.
The Hospitality Award covers a broad range of professions and workers within the industry, including food and beverage assistants, guest services, cooks, chefs, kitchen attendants, storepersons, front office staff, door persons/security officers, gardeners, and gaming attendants (including bar staff and waiters). It also covers employees performing any other duty set out in Schedule A – Classification Definitions. The Award only covers certain levels of managerial staff, such as hotel managers, but excludes senior managers who are responsible for a significant area of the business, including company secretaries, chief accountants, human resource managers, and venue managers.
The Hospitality Award applies to all types of tourist or residential accommodation, including hotels, motels, serviced apartments, resorts, and caravan parks. It also covers nightclubs, function areas, convention facilities, and restaurants that are connected with an employer covered by the Hospitality Award, such as a restaurant within a hotel.
In terms of employment types, the Hospitality Award covers full-time, part-time, and casual employees. Casual employees are compensated with an additional 25% loading on top of the permanent base rate of pay to account for their lack of certain entitlements, such as annual leave. The Award also introduces the concept of part-time employees having "guaranteed hours" and "availability periods," with provisions for changes to these hours outlined in the Award.
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What are the minimum entitlements and rates of pay?
The Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 [MA000009] is a comprehensive set of pay rules maintained by the Fair Work Commission. It covers employers in the hospitality industry and their employees who fit within the classifications of the award. This includes labour hire businesses and their employees who are placed with an organisation in the hospitality industry.
The Hospitality Award sets out a classification structure that defines the tasks that employees perform at different skill levels in Schedule A – Classification Definitions. Each classification has a corresponding minimum rate of pay. Examples of employees covered by the Hospitality Award include food, beverage and gaming attendants (including bar staff and waiters), cooks, chefs, kitchen attendants, and gardeners.
The Hospitality Award offers annualised salary arrangements, where an employer agrees to pay their employee an annual salary that includes all entitlements outlined in the relevant Modern Award. These arrangements apply to all employees other than casual employees and employees within the Managerial Staff (Hotels) classification level. Employers must ensure that a salary staff's annual wage is not less than what they would have been paid over the year if they were paid all the award entitlements for their job.
Casual employees are paid an additional 25% loading on top of the permanent base rate of pay as compensation for annual leave and personal/carer's leave entitlements, notice of termination, redundancy benefits, and other entitlements of full or part-time employees.
The Hospitality Award also includes provisions for:
- Overtime rates: When a full-time or part-time employee works overtime on a rostered or accrued day off, they must be paid for a minimum of 4 hours, even if they work for less.
- Penalty rates: If an employee works more than 6 hours and is unable to take an unpaid meal break, they must be paid an additional 50% of their ordinary hourly rate from the end of the 6th hour after starting work until a break is taken or the shift ends. If an employee works more than 5 continuous hours after an unpaid meal break or more than 2 hours of overtime, they are entitled to an additional 20-minute paid rest break.
- Leave loading: Under the Hospitality Award, a rate of 17.5% leave loading on top of their annual leave is applied when an employee takes paid time off.
- Public holidays: In some circumstances, employees are entitled to pay for public holidays even when they were not rostered to work.
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What are the rules regarding overtime?
The Hospitality Industry (General) Award, or the Hospitality Award, outlines several rules regarding overtime. Here are the key points:
Overtime Entitlement
Employees are entitled to overtime pay when they work beyond their ordinary hours. Ordinary hours refer to the maximum number of hours worked in a cycle, which should not exceed 40 hours multiplied by the number of working and non-working weeks in the cycle. For example, if an employee works a 7-hour shift, they are entitled to a minimum half-hour meal break and an additional 20-minute paid rest break if they work more than 2 hours of overtime.
Overtime Rates
The Hospitality Award outlines specific overtime rates that employers must abide by. These rates are higher than regular pay rates and are detailed in the award's pay guide. Employers must ensure they are up to date with the latest rates, as the Fair Work Commission conducts annual wage reviews.
Time Off in Lieu of Overtime Pay
The Hospitality Award allows employers and employees to agree in writing to take time off instead of receiving overtime pay. This arrangement must be mutually agreed upon, and the employee can request to be paid for the overtime hours at any time. If the time off for overtime is not taken within 6 months, the employer must compensate the employee financially in the next pay period at the applicable overtime rate.
Apprentices and Overtime
Employers must not require apprentices under the age of 18 to work overtime. However, apprentices may voluntarily agree to work overtime if requested. Employers must ensure that overtime does not interfere with the apprentice's training schedule, except in emergencies.
Part-Time Employees and Overtime
Part-time employees in the hospitality industry have ""guaranteed hours,"" which means they are rostered for a minimum number of hours during their availability periods. Changes to these guaranteed hours can only be made with the employee's written consent. While part-time employees can be rostered for additional hours within their availability, it is important to note that this does not typically incur overtime pay.
Annualised Salary Arrangements
Annualised salaries include all entitlements outlined in the relevant Modern Award. These arrangements apply to all employees except casual and managerial staff in hotels. Employers must maintain accurate records of salaried staff's actual hours worked for 7 years. Salaried employees must not be paid less than what they would have earned if they were paid according to the award entitlements for their job.
Reasonable Overtime Hours
Employers may require employees to work reasonable overtime hours at overtime rates. However, employees have the right to refuse if the additional hours pose a risk to their health and safety.
The rules regarding overtime in the Hospitality Award aim to protect employees' rights and ensure they are fairly compensated for their work. Employers must adhere to these regulations to comply with the award's requirements.
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What are the rules regarding annual leave?
The Hospitality Industry (General) Award, also known as the Hospitality Award, outlines the rules and regulations pertaining to the hospitality industry in Australia. This award came into effect on January 1, 2010, and has been updated several times since then, with the most recent update in 2025. This award covers employers and employees in the hospitality industry, including various types of tourist and residential accommodations, nightclubs, function areas, convention facilities, and restaurants connected with covered employers.
Annual Leave Rules:
The Hospitality Award provides guidelines for annual leave, which is covered under the National Employment Standards (NES). Here are the key rules regarding annual leave:
- Leave Entitlement: According to the NES, full-time employees covered by the award are entitled to four weeks of paid annual leave per year. Additionally, certain shift workers are entitled to an extra week of paid leave. Casual employees are not covered by the NES and, therefore, do not have the same annual leave entitlements.
- Leave Loading: When a covered employee takes paid time off, they receive a rate of 17.5% leave loading on top of their annual leave. This leave loading compensates for the weekend and shift penalties that the employee would have received if they had worked during that period.
- Cashing Out Options: The Hospitality Award provides cashing-out options for annual leave under certain conditions. This means that employees may be able to choose to receive a payment in lieu of taking time off, subject to specific agreements and conditions.
- Annualised Salary Arrangements: Employers may offer annualised salary arrangements, where an employee's annual salary includes all entitlements under the award. These arrangements apply to full-time and part-time employees but generally exclude casual employees and managerial staff in hotels. Employers must ensure that an employee's annual wage under these arrangements is not less than what they would have received if they were paid all the individual award entitlements.
- Record-Keeping: As of March 1, 2020, employers are required to maintain accurate records of salary staff's actual hours worked for a period of seven years. This helps ensure compliance with annual leave entitlements and payment requirements.
- Public Holiday Entitlements: The Hospitality Award specifies public holiday entitlements and pay rates for full-time and part-time employees. In some circumstances, employees may be entitled to pay for public holidays even if they were not rostered to work.
- Overtime and Leave: When a full-time or part-time employee works overtime on a rostered or accrued day off, they must be paid for a minimum of four hours, even if they work less. However, this does not apply if the overtime is part of a normal roster or is continuous from the previous day's duty.
- Meal Breaks and Rest Breaks: Employees are entitled to unpaid meal breaks and paid rest breaks under certain conditions. For example, if an employee works more than six hours without a meal break, they must be paid an additional 50% of their ordinary hourly rate until a break is taken or the shift ends. Additionally, if an employee works more than two hours of overtime, they are entitled to a 20-minute paid rest break.
- Superannuation Contributions: Employers are obligated to make superannuation contributions for employees who earn more than $350 before tax in a calendar month. The current contribution rate is 11.5% of an employee's ordinary earnings, which must be contributed to a nominated fund.
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What are the rules regarding meal breaks?
Meal breaks are a longer period of uninterrupted rest that allows employees to eat a meal. Awards, enterprise agreements, and other registered agreements set the rules for paid and unpaid meal breaks. The Hospitality Industry (General) Award [MA000009] covers employers in the hospitality industry and their employees who fit within the classifications of the award.
The rules regarding meal breaks in the Hospitality Industry (General) Award are as follows:
- If an employee works more than 6 hours and is unable to take an unpaid meal break, the employee must be paid an additional 50% of their ordinary hourly rate from the end of the 6th hour after starting work until a break is taken or the shift ends.
- If an employee works more than 5 continuous hours after an unpaid meal break or more than 2 hours of overtime, they are entitled to an additional 20-minute paid rest break.
- If an employee works a 7-hour shift followed by 3 hours of overtime, they will be entitled to one minimum half-hour meal break, as well as one paid 20-minute rest break within their overtime hours.
- If an employee works more than 10 hours (excluding unpaid meal breaks) in a single day, they must be paid for a minimum of 4 hours, even if they work for less. This does not apply if the work is part of a normal roster that began on the day before the rostered day off or is continuous from the previous day's duty.
- The Restaurant Industry Award (RIA) [MA000119] has two types of delayed meal breaks. If a meal break is rostered but delayed, the delayed meal break penalty rate must be manually added to the employee's wages for that shift. If there is no rostered time for a break, the delayed meal break penalty will be applied from the 6th hour of the shift. This pay rate will not apply during overtime, and any entitlement to the delayed meal break penalty during overtime must be manually adjusted.
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Frequently asked questions
The Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 [MA000009] is a comprehensive set of pay rules maintained by the Fair Work Commission. It covers employers in the hospitality industry and their employees who fit within the classifications of the award.
The award advises employers of the minimum entitlements and rates of pay they must provide to hospitality employees, including minimum wage, base pay rates for various levels of employment, overtime rates, penalty rates, and allowances. It also includes the concept of part-time employees having "guaranteed hours" and "availability periods", as well as an entitlement to pay for public holidays even when the employee was not rostered to work.
Classifying employees correctly is essential for paying hospitality award rates correctly as the rates and entitlements vary between different classifications. You can refer to the Fair Work guide on types of employees to understand how to classify your staff. Additionally, you can use Australian-made award compliance software, such as Tanda, to calculate the correct pay rates, overtime, and allowances for your employees based on their classifications.
