Penalty rates calculator for hospitality and salons

What the same shift costs on different days

The same hours cost very different amounts across the week. Worked out with the calculator above, at minimum award rates, with super at 12%:

The cook costs the same on Sunday as on Saturday. That isn’t a mistake: under the Restaurant Industry Award, casuals from the introductory level to Level 2 get 150% on both days, and the 175% Sunday rate starts at Level 3. Under the Hospitality Award, every casual gets 175% on Sunday.

That gap is why weekend and public holiday rosters are worth planning against the bookings you actually hold. Our free staff roster template works for either kind of business.

It is also why many cafés and restaurants add a surcharge on public holidays. The law allows it for food and drink, as long as the menu says so in set words: public holiday surcharges, the rules. The surcharge calculator works out the surcharge that covers a whole day’s roster.

How the calculator works

• Rates are the award minimums from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026, for adults, with junior percentages applied by age. Each rate is rounded to the cent, so a total can differ by a few cents from a pay guide.
• Where two rates could apply to the same hour, the award pays the higher one, never both. Casual percentages already include the 25% casual loading.
• The late-night amounts under the Restaurant and Hospitality awards are paid per hour or part of an hour, so 30 minutes after 10pm earns the full $2.95.
• Hours after midnight are priced as the next day: a Saturday shift that runs past midnight is paid Sunday rates from midnight. A public holiday tick covers the shift’s start date only.
• The unpaid break is taken from the middle of the shift. If your break falls in a different rate band, the total moves by the difference.
• A shift shorter than the minimum engagement is topped up at its own average rate: 2 hours for casuals under the Restaurant and Hospitality awards, 3 hours under the Hair and Beauty Award, and 4 hours for full-time and part-time staff on a public holiday under the two hospitality awards.
• Junior staff working in liquor service are paid the adult rate under the Restaurant and Hospitality awards (clause 13.5 of each).
• Super is added at 12%, the super guarantee rate. Casual loading and penalty rates for ordinary hours count toward it.

What it leaves out

• Overtime, including hours over a full-time or part-time employee’s agreed hours, the daily maximum, or the Hair and Beauty Award’s span of ordinary hours.
• Allowances (split shift, meal, uniform, first aid and the rest), and annual leave loading.
• Apprentices, trainees, casino gaming staff, managerial staff on salaries, and part-day public holidays.
• Enterprise agreements, individual flexibility arrangements and pay above the award.
• Payroll tax and workers’ compensation, which depend on your state and insurer.

For any of those, use the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Pay Calculator, or check with your payroll provider before you pay anyone.

Add this calculator to your website

Free for any website, blog or staff intranet, with no sign-up. Paste the code where you want the calculator to appear. It loads from Gaplessly, so it stays up to date when award rates change.

Where these figures come from

Rates and penalty tables are from the Fair Work Commission’s published text of each award, including every change up to 1 July 2026, read on 1 October 2026. The super guarantee rate is from the ATO. Rates change after each Annual Wage Review, usually from the first full pay period on or after 1 July, and this page is updated when they do. This is general information, not legal or payroll advice.