Hospitality award back pay calculator

Privacy-safe output

The Pay Breakdown contains no employee or employer identity, payment date, PAYG withholding, or net pay.

This keeps the output focused on checking award minimum entitlements against real pay records.

Classification, contract, roster dates, entitlement lines, estimated gross and the disclosed superannuation estimate are included.

Silence is not zero

Not calculated at all

Annualised wage varied during the agreementClause 24 is checked on one annualised wage and one agreement start date. A wage changed partway through the agreement is not modelled.
Pay type or employment type changing mid-rangeA contract change date in a reconstruction switches only the set-off coverage ticks. The pay type (award, above-award, flat hourly, fixed salary), the flat rate or salary, the employment type and the agreed hours stay as entered for the whole range. Reconstruct each side of such a change separately.
Combined ordinary hours arrangements — clause 15.1(b)(viii)Clause 15.1(b)(viii) permits an employer and employee to combine the arrangements at 15.1(b)(i) to (vii) — for example a fortnight of 76 hours followed by a 19-day month cycle. Only one whole arrangement can be selected here, so a combined arrangement is not calculated. Where the agreement combines arrangements, check the daily and cycle ordinary-hours caps for each part of the cycle separately.
Guaranteed hours ceasing after an unaccommodated availability changeClause 10.12. This employment-status consequence is not calculated.
Pre-1 January 2018 agreed part-time patternsClause 10.14. Transitional agreed patterns for longer-serving employees are not reconstructed.
Rest break after more than two overtime hoursThe clause 16.7(b) rest break entitlement arises where more than 2 hours of overtime are worked and is an unmodelled gap.
Extra rest break owed under 16.7(a) — no payment attachedThe clause 16.7(a) entitlement is surfaced as a roster compliance warning only, since neither limb carries a payment remedy.
Pay periods before the earliest rate set held (1 February 2021)A pay period commencing before 1 February 2021 is not calculated, in a single Pay Check or a reconstruction. The six-year limitation period can reach further back than that, so for anyone reconstructing from late 2020 the window actually covered is shorter than six years: the limit is the earliest rate set, not the statutory period.
Managerial salary absorption
Apprentice ratesClauses 12 and 19 (Tables 7 to 11). Junior rates under clause 18.4 are calculated.
Leave accrual balances
Termination paymentsIncludes notice, redundancy and accrued leave paid out on termination.

Calculated but not reliable

Super guarantee chargeFrom 1 July 2026 the ATO assesses the charge and issues a notice of assessment, so there is nothing to self-calculate. Before that, it is a historical quarterly shortfall under the old rules and is not calculated.
Missing figure: 2020-21 maximum contribution baseThe ATO figure for 2020-21 has not been sourced. Super at the time for periods paid in 2020-21 is calculated assuming the cap was not reached, and each quarter's earnings are compared with $58,920 — the lowest quarterly cap held (2021-22). That is a proxy, not the 2020-21 cap; a quarter above it is flagged as possibly overstated. The real figure is still to be sourced.
Super above the SG minimum under a contract, enterprise agreement or other industrial instrumentOnly a single entered rate can be modelled with the optional super rate box. Instrument rates that step up, differ by pay type or have their own conditions are not calculated.
Super on amounts that are not qualifying earningsAn industrial instrument can require super on amounts such as overtime, the 150% overnight stay hours or paid parental leave. The tool never adds these to the super base, even with a custom rate entered.
Instrument super rules that differ from the monthly earnings threshold test, the under-18 test or the capThe legal minimum tests are always applied. An instrument that removes or changes them is not modelled.
Custom super rate applies across the whole rangeA rate entered in the optional super rate box applies to every period in the range and cannot vary over time. A contract rate that changed partway through is not modelled.
Casual overtimeCasual overtime is paid at 175% for the first two hours and 225% thereafter, on the basis that clause 11.1 pays the 25% loading for each hour worked. Schedule B table B.2.4, published by the Fair Work Commission, shows casual overtime at 150% and 200% with no loading, while including the loading in its 250% public holiday column. Verify against PACT.
Junior casual overtimeJunior casual overtime is paid on the same basis: 175% for the first two hours and 225% thereafter, of the junior rate, on the basis that clause 11.1 pays the 25% loading for each hour worked. There is no published check either way for junior casual overtime. Verify against PACT.

Removed deliberately

PAYG withholdingNot calculated or shown in the Pay Breakdown.
Net payNot calculated or shown in the Pay Breakdown.

Allowances not implemented

Motor vehicle kilometres allowanceClause 26.7.
Airport catering travel allowanceClause 26.11.
Airport catering supervisory allowanceClause 26.13. All-purpose under clause 26.2, so it lifts the base rate before every multiplier. The Fair Work Ombudsman pay guides exclude employees receiving an all-purpose allowance and direct that PACT be used instead, which is also why the historical hourly-versus-weekly structure of this allowance cannot be resolved from the guides. Use PACT where it applies.
Cancelled-overtime meal allowance triggerClause 26.4(c).
Pre-23-January-2020 fork-lift allowanceThe clause 26.3(b) branch is not implemented.
General laundry allowanceUnder clause 26.6(c), the amount is agreed between the employer and the employee or the actual laundering cost is reimbursed, so no amount can be calculated.
Catering and motel laundry — no employer-type field to select themThe catering (clause 26.6(d)) and motel (clause 26.6(e)) figures are held in the rate lookup but are not paid, as there is no employer-type selection.

Roster entries not checked

A meal break start outside the shift, or paid rest break minutes longer than the shiftAccepted as entered, with no warning.
Higher duties hours longer than the shift itselfAccepted as entered, with no warning.
Overnight stay hours over 24, or overlapping the shift on the same rowAccepted as entered, with no warning.
Flags that do not fit the row typeFor example rostered day off worked or split shift on a leave row. Most are ignored by the calculation, but this is not reported.
Public holiday flagsThere is no holiday calendar to check against, so a flag on a date that is not a public holiday, or a real public holiday left unflagged, is not detected.
Times entered on a leave rowLoaded but play no part in the calculation, and this is not reported.
Notes in an uploaded fileLeading and trailing spaces are removed.
Formula cells in an Excel fileThe value last saved in the workbook is used; formulas are not recalculated.

Classification & rate

Adult minimums modelled on the rates effective 1 July 2026, covering the Food & Beverage, Kitchen, Front Office / Guest Services and Housekeeping streams — confirm against the current pay guide.

Award classification

Level 3 — $27.97/h minimum

Food & Beverage Attendant Grade 3 · Cook Grade 2 · Guest Services Grade 3 (Front Office / Night Audit) · Housekeeping Attendant Grade 2

Remuneration type

Base hourly rate (before loadings)

Locked to the Level 3 award minimum (27.97/h). Change the classification above to update it.

Superannuation rate (%) — optional

Leave blank to use the SG rate for each date. A rate entered here applies to the whole range and cannot change over time. It uses the same earnings as the SG figure, and the contribution cap, $450 monthly test and under-18 test still apply.

Employee under 21 (junior rates)

Leave blank if the employee is 21 or over.

Age

Age on this date

Award Allowances & Toggles

Clause 26 allowances. Flat amounts are paid on top of gross pay and add no clock hours. The fork-lift licence loading is all-purpose: it lifts the base rate itself, so every penalty, overtime and annual leave rate rises with it.

Holds Fork-lift Licence (All-Purpose)

Adds $0.44 per hour to the base rate before Saturday, Sunday, public holiday and overtime T15/T20 multipliers are applied (clause 26.3(a)).

Cook provides own tools (Tool Allowance)

Clause 26.5(a): $2.03 per day or part day worked, capped at $9.94 a week. Last varied 1 July 2024 — not indexed with the 2026 allowances.

Appointed First Aider (First Aid Allowance)

Clause 26.12(b): $13.43 a week full-time, or $2.69 per day worked capped at $13.43 a week for part-time and casual. Requires a current qualification and appointment to first aid duty.

Provides & launders own uniform (Laundry Allowance)

Clause 26.6 sets no fixed figure: the amount is agreed with the employer or the actual laundering cost is reimbursed, so no dollar amount is calculated — a note appears in the warnings instead.

Contract type & hours

Drives which penalty, loading and overtime rules the estimator applies.

Ordinary hours arrangement pattern

Salaried Managerial Staff (Hotels), Schedule AAffects the clause 35.3(a) question only.

ROSTERED WEEKLY HOURS

Locked to 38.0 ordinary hours per week for full-time contracts.

Maximum ordinary hours in one shift

Locked to 7.6 h by the selected clause 15.1(b) arrangement. Hours beyond it go to the T15/T20 overtime tier.

Conditions attached to clause 15.1(b)(iv)

Clause 15.1(c) applies to every arrangement: a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 11.5 ordinary hours on any day, a break of at least 48 hours after more than three consecutive days of more than 10 ordinary hours, and no more than 8 days of more than 10 ordinary hours in any 4-week cycle.

17.5% annual leave loading

Always applied to paid annual leave. Clause 30.3 requires the employer to pay it, so it is not an option.

Pay period

Any custom range works — a week, a roster cycle, or months of backpay.

Period start

Period end

This is a backpay / underpayment model

Marks the Pay Breakdown as a reconstruction and shows your note.

full-time

This tool is an estimator for modelling and training. Figures are indicative only and may not reflect the current award, agreement terms, allowances, or your tax circumstances. It is not legal, payroll or tax advice.

This is a free tool maintained on a best-effort basis by one individual. Award rates change at least annually, usually from the first full pay period on or after 1 July. There is no guarantee the rates in this tool are current. Verify every figure against the Fair Work Ombudsman's PACT tool before paying anyone.

This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Fair Work Commission, or the Australian Government.

An enterprise agreement displaces the award entirely. If an employee is covered by an enterprise agreement, none of these results apply to that employee.

This tool covers the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (MA000009) only. Restaurants, cafés, fast food outlets and registered clubs may be covered by a different award — confirm which award applies before relying on any figure here.

Rate set in use: award minimum rates effective from 1 July 2026 (2026-07-01). Source: MA000009 clause 18.1 Table 3, consolidated to 1 July 2026 (PR799280, PR799290, PR799447), cross-checked against the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide published 24 June 2026.