Payroll Entitlements For Casual Cafe and Restaurant Employees

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Have you just moved to Australia and are unsure of your payroll related entitlements in your new hospitality job? Or have you been living and working in Australian cafe's / bars for years but are still hazy on how exactly the 'Award' works? Then read on.

Casual employment - What are my payroll entitlements if I work as a barista, bar tender or server?

Casual employees are people who are hired on a basis which does not provide consistent or permanent work hours each week. Below is a summary of payroll entitlements for casuals.

Annual Leave

Casual employees are not entitled to any paid annual leave under the restaurant industry award MA000119. Unlike your permanent part time and full time counterparts you will not get 'paid time off' to go on holidays or visit your family. You will only be paid for hours actually worked.

Sick Leave

Just like annual leave, casual employees also do not accrue sick leave. If you do not show up for work you will not have the benefit of using 'Sick day' accruals to cover you.

Casual Loading

To make up for the fact that casual employees have inconsistent hours and do not accrue annual or sick leave the fair work ombudsmen requires employers to pay an extra 25% casual loading on top of the minimum award wage to ensure casual employees are not disadvantaged. Below are a select sample of minimum award pay rates for common positions on top of which the 25% loading must be added.

Minimum pay rates (Restaurant Industry Award)

Level 1 food and beverage attendant - $20.06 per hour

Level 2 food and beverage attendant - $20.82 per hour

Level 3 food and beverage attendant - $21.54 per hour

25% casual loading must be added to the above pay rates which will change the minimum payrates to:

Level 1 food and beverage attendant - $20.06 + $5.015 = $25.075

Level 2 food and beverage attendant - $20.82 + $5.205 = $26.025

Level 3 food and beverage attendant - $21.54 + $5.385 = $26.925

Note: If you are 19 years of age or younger your pay rates will be lower than the above rates which are for adults 20 years and older.

Overtime

Casual employees are entitled to overtime rates if they work over 12 hours in one shift or over 38 hours in a week at the following rates:

Weekday first 2 hours overtime = 1.5x

Weekday after first 2 hours overtime = 2x

Saturday first 2 hours overtime = 1.75x

Saturday after first 2 hours overtime = 2x

Sunday any overtime = 2x

Note: Because employers are already paying casual employees at 125% of the base rate (Because of the casual loading) they only need to pay an extra 25% to make it to the overtime rate of 150%

Example: if you are a level 2 employee who worked an extra hour overtime on a weekday your minimum pay for that hour would be $20.82 base rate (100%) + $5.205 loading (25%) + $5.205 overtime (25%) which equals $31.23 or 150%.

If your lucky you employer might willingly pay 1.5x on your usual rate which already includes causal loading of 25% which would be $20.82 + $5.205 loading = $26.025 x 1.5 = $39.0375 however this is not compulsory.

Penalty Rates

Casual employees are entitled to the following penalty rates on top of their base wage.

Saturday = 1.5x

Sunday = 1.5x

Public holiday = 2.5x

Example: If you are a level 2 employee working on a Sunday your minimum rate is $20.82 + 25% casual loading of $5.205 + 25% penalty rate of $5.205 which adds up to $31.23 or 150%.

If you are a level 3 employee you will are entitled to 1.75x on a Sunday.

Pay Rate Calculator

The fair work ombudsmen provides a pay rate calculator which can be used by employees and employers to figure out pay rates. View the Calculator to get started.

This calculator has the most up to date payrates which might sometimes lag slightly on the actual awards.

Need help with payroll?

Contact ctkaccounting.com.au for Australian payroll assistance. CPA, tax agent and professional bookkeeping services based in Wollongong, NSW.

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