Restaurant award pay calculator
Work out one shift under the Restaurant Industry Award 2020 (MA000119), line by line. Every penalty band, hourly rate and amount names the clause it came from and anything the calculator cannot price is said out loud instead of guessed.
Covers: Restaurants, cafes and takeaway businesses where food is eaten on the premises, including front of house and kitchen staff.
Rates in this calculator: 1 July 2025 and 1 July 2026 versions. The date you enter picks the one in force.
Calculator
A casual level 2 on a Saturday night that runs past midnight. The hours after midnight are Sunday hours. A level 2 casual on a Sunday is on 150%, not the 175% a level 3 gets.
Worked example · 8h attended, 7h 30m paid
Saturday 10 October 2026, 17:00 to 01:00
Level 2 (food and beverage attendant grade 2, cook grade 1, kitchen attendant grade 2, clerical grade 1, storeperson grade 1, door person/security officer grade 1) · Casual
| Band and clause | When | Hours | Of base | Hourly rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SaturdayMA000119 clause 24.2, Table 8 | Sat 17:00 to 20:30 | 3h 30m | 150% | $40.62of $27.08 | $142.17 |
| SaturdayMA000119 clause 24.2, Table 8 | Sat 21:00 to 24:00 | 3h | 150% | $40.62of $27.08 | $121.86 |
| SundayMA000119 clause 24.2(b), Table 8 | Sun 00:00 to 01:00 | 1h | 150% | $40.62of $27.08 | $40.62 |
| Total for the shift, before tax and super | $304.65 | ||||
Assumptions in this figure
- Priced as the only shift in its week, so overtime for passing 38 hours in a week is not counted. Add the week up before relying on a single shift.
What this calculator does not price and why
- Rates move from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July. With a workspace pay cycle set (Settings, Award) the engine applies that rule; without one it switches on the operative date itself.
- Junior liquor service employees and trade-qualified juniors are paid the adult rate (clause 13). The engine cannot tell which members those are, so leave their date of birth unset to pay the adult rate.
- Apprentice progression is by year or stage of the apprenticeship, not by age. Move the member to the next apprentice classification on the anniversary or stage date; proficiency payments in the 4th year (clause 18.4) are not applied.
- Apprentices are published for full-time and part-time work only. A casual apprentice is priced on the casual columns of the general table.
- Christmas Day falling on a weekend (125% where a substitute day is taken) is not applied. Mark the day you treat as the public holiday.
- Overtime for work on a rostered day off (200% with a 4 hour minimum, clause 23.1(d), (e)) is not applied, because the engine is not told which days are rostered off.
- A part-time employee is also on overtime past their rostered hours (clause 10.13(b)(iii)). The engine applies the daily and weekly limits only.
- Payment at the overtime rate until an 8 hour break is had after overtime (clause 23.2(c)) is not applied.
- The public holiday arrangement at 125% plus time added to annual leave (clause 24.4(d)) is not applied; it needs an agreement the engine is not told about.
- Allowances (split shift, meal, tools, laundry, distant work) are not applied.
The same five steps a payroll officer takes
The calculator runs the award engine LoggerIQ uses to price shifts, against award content where every rate carries its clause, operative date and the page it was read from.
Find the base rate
The adult hourly rate for the classification, from the award table. For a junior, the junior percentage comes off first, worked out the way that award says to round it.
Cut the shift at every boundary
The shift is split at midnight and at the edge of every penalty window. The unpaid break comes out where it was taken. Hours after midnight on Saturday are Sunday hours, priced as Sunday.
Decide what is overtime
Time past the award’s daily limit for that employment type is overtime, counted from the end of the shift. Where the limit depends on an arrangement the calculator cannot see, it refuses rather than picks.
Price each piece
Each piece takes the highest band in force. Casual figures are the all-inclusive percentages the pay guide publishes, so the casual loading is never added twice. Flat evening and night amounts are added per hour.
Top up and add up
A shift shorter than the minimum engagement is topped up to it. Each hourly rate is rounded to the cent before it is multiplied, so every line reconciles with the pay guide.
A general guide, not payroll advice
This calculator prices one shift against minimum award rates. It does not know your enterprise agreement, an individual flexibility arrangement, above-award pay, the rest of the person’s week or allowances. The Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide for MA000119 is the authority (open the pay guide, checked 2 October 2026). If a figure here and the pay guide differ, the pay guide is right and we would like to hear about it at support@loggeriq.io.
Other award calculators
Price every approved shift this way, not one at a time
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