Retail award pay calculator
Work out one shift under the General Retail Industry Award 2020 (MA000004), 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: Shops and retail businesses: sales, checkout, shelf filling, stores and retail supervisors.
Rates in this calculator: 1 July 2025 and 1 July 2026 versions. The date you enter picks the one in force.
Calculator
A 17-year-old part-time level 1 on a weekday late shift. The junior percentage comes off the base first, then the evening penalty after 6pm applies to the junior rate.
Worked example · 7h 30m attended, 7h paid
Thursday 8 October 2026, 14:00 to 21:30
Retail employee level 1 · Part time · age 17
| Band and clause | When | Hours | Of base | Hourly rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary hoursMA000004 clause 17.1, Table 4; 17.2, Table 5 | Thu 14:00 to 17:30 | 3h 30m | 100% | $16.69of $16.69 | $58.42 |
| Evening (after 6pm, Monday to Friday)MA000004 clause 22.1, Table 12; 17.2, Table 5 | Thu 18:00 to 21:30 | 3h 30m | 125% | $20.86of $16.69 | $73.01 |
| Total for the shift, before tax and super | $131.43 | ||||
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 change 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.
- A day of more than 9 hours is priced from the Retail hours arrangement (Settings, Award, or the member): the first such day each award week, or a fixed weekday, runs to 11 ordinary hours (clause 15.5). Until it is recorded those days are refused with a prompt. Weekly overtime over 38 hours is applied.
- A part-time employee is also on overtime past their guaranteed hours (clause 21.2, Table 10). The engine applies the daily and weekly limits only.
- Overtime for hours outside the span of ordinary hours (7am to 9pm Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm Saturday, 9am to 6pm Sunday, clause 15.1) is not applied, because the span has several exceptions (newsagencies from 5am, video shops to midnight, late-trading retailers to 11pm) that depend on the business.
- Shiftwork rates (clauses 24 and 25) are not applied. They cover only employees specifically engaged as shiftworkers, which is a contractual fact this workspace does not record, and they never apply to a non-shiftworker who merely works late.
- Baking production early-morning and night shift rates (clause 25.2) are not applied.
- Apprentice and adult apprentice rates (clauses 17.3 and 17.4) are not included. An apprentice is not one of the classifications here.
- The 20-year-old rate depends on length of service with the employer: 90% at six months or less, 100% after (clause 17.2, Table 5). The engine pays 100%, the higher of the two, and says so on the shift, because underpaying is the worse error.
- The 1.5-hour minimum engagement for a secondary school student working 3pm to 6.30pm on a school day with parental approval (clause 11.3) is not applied. Every casual gets the 3-hour minimum.
- The 200% penalty for resuming work without a 12-hour break (clause 16.6(b)) is not applied.
- Allowances (clause 19) 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 MA000004 is the authority (open the pay guide, checked 30 September 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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