Retail Award Pay Rates 2026-27: Every Level
Minimum rates under the General Retail Industry Award 2020 (MA000004), effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
The short answer
A Retail Employee Level 1 is paid $27.81 an hour or $1,056.80 a week full-time. A casual at the same classification is paid $34.76 an hour, including the 25% casual loading. On that full-time wage, take-home pay after income tax and the Medicare levy is $46,848 a year, or $1,802 a fortnight.
MA000004 rates by classification.
All 8 classifications, with the casual rate the award publishes and what each one actually takes home after tax.
| Classification | Weekly | Hourly | Casual hourly | Take-home a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Employee Level 1 | $1,056.80 | $27.81 | $34.76 | $46,848 |
| Retail Employee Level 2 | $1,081.00 | $28.45 | $35.56 | $47,704 |
| Retail Employee Level 3 | $1,097.80 | $28.89 | $36.11 | $48,298 |
| Retail Employee Level 4 | $1,119.10 | $29.45 | $36.81 | $49,051 |
| Retail Employee Level 5 | $1,165.10 | $30.66 | $38.33 | $50,678 |
| Retail Employee Level 6 | $1,182.10 | $31.11 | $38.89 | $51,279 |
| Retail Employee Level 7 | $1,241.40 | $32.67 | $40.84 | $53,376 |
| Retail Employee Level 8 | $1,291.80 | $33.99 | $42.49 | $55,158 |
Take-home is an estimate for a single Australian resident for tax purposes with no study loan debt and no Medicare levy surcharge, calculated with the same Wage Calculator used across this site. Superannuation is paid by your employer on top of these rates and is never deducted from them.
Where these figures come from.
Provenance
Verified- Award
- General Retail Industry Award 2020 (MA000004)
- Effective from
- 1 July 2026
- Consolidated to
- 1 July 2026
- Determinations
- PR799280, PR799285, PR799443
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-06
- Cross-checked
- 8 of 8 rates against Schedule B
Every rate above was read from the award text at the Fair Work award library and then checked a second time against Schedule B of the same award, which republishes the hourly rates. Casual rates are the award’s own published figures rather than our multiplication, because the award rounds differently from a calculator. Nothing here is copied from another pay site.
What this page does not cover.
Listed as plainly as what it does, because a rate page that hides its gaps is how the wrong number ends up on a payslip.
Overtime rates
Not extracted: overtime is not a penalty rate on ordinary hours and the penalty clause table states no overtime percentage.
Junior rates
Employees under 21 are paid a percentage of the adult rate for their level, and their penalty columns go with it.
Allowances
Cold work, laundry, vehicle and meal allowances are published separately.
Retail Award Pay Rates questions, answered.
What is the hourly rate for a retail worker?
Under the General Retail Industry Award, a Retail Employee Level 1 is paid $27.81 an hour, or $1,056.80 a week for a full-time employee, from 1 July 2026. A casual at the same level is paid $34.76 an hour, which includes the 25% casual loading. Higher levels run to $33.99 an hour at Level 8.
What is the basic hourly rate in Australia?
The National Minimum Wage is the floor for employees not covered by an award or agreement. Most retail workers are covered by the General Retail Industry Award instead, and the award floor is higher: $27.81 an hour at Level 1. Where an award applies, the award rate is the legal minimum, not the National Minimum Wage.
What is the minimum wage for a part-time job in Australia?
A part-time employee is paid the same hourly rate as a full-time employee at the same classification, and accrues leave pro rata. The difference is hours, not rate. A casual is paid the higher casual hourly rate instead, because casual loading compensates for not accruing paid leave.
Do the retail award rates include penalty rates?
No. The table above is ordinary hours. The award prices 4 penalty conditions on ordinary hours, set out further down this page: 125% of the minimum hourly rate on a Saturday, 150% on a Sunday, 225% on a public holiday, and 125% for ordinary hours worked Monday to Friday after 6.00pm. Shiftwork and overtime are not published here, and the reason is given in the same section.
Do casual retail workers get penalty rates on top of the casual loading?
Not on top of it, because the award has already put it inside the percentage. The casual figure is the full-time percentage plus 25 percentage points, so Saturday is 125% for a full-time or part-time employee and 150% for a casual, and Sunday is 150% and 175%. Multiplying the full-time Saturday percentage by 1.25 instead gives 156.25%, a figure clause 22 never uses. In dollars, a casual Retail Employee Level 1 is paid $41.72 an hour on a Saturday.
Are junior rates included?
No. Employees under 21 are paid a percentage of the adult rate for their level, set in a separate table in the award. That table is not published on this page yet, so the rates here are adult rates only.
When do retail award rates change?
Award rates change from the first full pay period on or after 1 July each year, following the Fair Work Commission's Annual Wage Review. The rates on this page take effect from 1 July 2026 and were read from the award consolidated to 1 July 2026.
See what an award rate leaves you with.
Enter your hourly rate and hours to work out take-home pay for your own roster.
Open the pay calculatorGeneral Retail Industry Award 2020 penalty rates.
Clause 22 prices 4 conditions on ordinary hours, each as a percentage of the minimum hourly rate. Schedule B prints the dollar figure for every classification, so the tables below are the award’s own arithmetic. They cover 74 classifications.
The short answer
A full-time or part-time Retail Employee Level 1 is paid $34.76 an hour on a Saturday, $41.72 on a Sunday and $62.57 on a public holiday, against $27.81 for ordinary hours. A casual at the same level is paid $41.72, $48.67 and $69.53 on the same three days.
Full-time and part-time adult employees other than shiftworkers—ordinary and penalty rates
| Classification | Ordinary hours100% | Monday to Friday after 6.00pm125% | Saturday125% | Sunday150% | Public holiday225% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Employee Level 1 | $27.81 | $34.76 | $34.76 | $41.72 | $62.57 |
| Retail Employee Level 2 | $28.45 | $35.56 | $35.56 | $42.68 | $64.01 |
| Retail Employee Level 3 | $28.89 | $36.11 | $36.11 | $43.34 | $65.00 |
| Retail Employee Level 4 | $29.45 | $36.81 | $36.81 | $44.18 | $66.26 |
| Retail Employee Level 5 | $30.66 | $38.33 | $38.33 | $45.99 | $68.99 |
| Retail Employee Level 6 | $31.11 | $38.89 | $38.89 | $46.67 | $70.00 |
| Retail Employee Level 7 | $32.67 | $40.84 | $40.84 | $49.01 | $73.51 |
| Retail Employee Level 8 | $33.99 | $42.49 | $42.49 | $50.99 | $76.48 |
Casual adult employees other than shiftworkers—ordinary and penalty rates
| Classification | Ordinary hours125% | Monday to Friday after 6.00pm150% | Saturday150% | Sunday175% | Public holiday250% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Employee Level 1 | $34.76 | $41.72 | $41.72 | $48.67 | $69.53 |
| Retail Employee Level 2 | $35.56 | $42.68 | $42.68 | $49.79 | $71.13 |
| Retail Employee Level 3 | $36.11 | $43.34 | $43.34 | $50.56 | $72.23 |
| Retail Employee Level 4 | $36.81 | $44.18 | $44.18 | $51.54 | $73.63 |
| Retail Employee Level 5 | $38.33 | $45.99 | $45.99 | $53.66 | $76.65 |
| Retail Employee Level 6 | $38.89 | $46.67 | $46.67 | $54.44 | $77.78 |
| Retail Employee Level 7 | $40.84 | $49.01 | $49.01 | $57.17 | $81.68 |
| Retail Employee Level 8 | $42.49 | $50.99 | $50.99 | $59.48 | $84.98 |
The award publishes 7 ordinary-hours tables in all. The two above are the adult scale; the rest price junior, apprentice and trainee classifications off the same percentages.
Shiftwork rates.
Clause 23.1 states, "Part 6 applies only to persons specifically employed to do shiftwork." so these apply only to employees engaged as shiftworkers, not to anyone rostered late. The column headings were read from the spans in the award’s own HTML, and every figure divides back to the ordinary hourly rate in the tables above.
Full-time and part-time adult shiftworkers, shiftwork and penalty rates
| Classification | Monday to Friday, Starting at or after 6.00 pm and before 5.00 am130% | Monday to Friday, Starting at or after 2.00 am and before 6.00 am112.5% | Monday to Friday, Starting before 2.00 am130% | Saturday150% | Sunday175% | Public holiday225% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Employee Level 1 | $36.15 | $31.29 | $36.15 | $41.72 | $48.67 | $62.57 |
| Retail Employee Level 2 | $36.99 | $32.01 | $36.99 | $42.68 | $49.79 | $64.01 |
| Retail Employee Level 3 | $37.56 | $32.50 | $37.56 | $43.34 | $50.56 | $65.00 |
| Retail Employee Level 4 | $38.29 | $33.13 | $38.29 | $44.18 | $51.54 | $66.26 |
| Retail Employee Level 5 | $39.86 | $34.49 | $39.86 | $45.99 | $53.66 | $68.99 |
| Retail Employee Level 6 | $40.44 | $35.00 | $40.44 | $46.67 | $54.44 | $70.00 |
| Retail Employee Level 7 | $42.47 | $36.75 | $42.47 | $49.01 | $57.17 | $73.51 |
| Retail Employee Level 8 | $44.19 | $38.24 | $44.19 | $50.99 | $59.48 | $76.48 |
Casual adult shiftworkers, shiftwork and penalty rates
| Classification | Monday to Friday, Starting at or after 6.00 pm and before 5.00 am155% | Monday to Friday, Starting at or after 2.00 am and before 6.00 am137.5% | Monday to Friday, Starting before 2.00 am155% | Saturday175% | Sunday200% | Public holiday250% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Employee Level 1 | $43.11 | $38.24 | $43.11 | $48.67 | $55.62 | $69.53 |
| Retail Employee Level 2 | $44.10 | $39.12 | $44.10 | $49.79 | $56.90 | $71.13 |
| Retail Employee Level 3 | $44.78 | $39.72 | $44.78 | $50.56 | $57.78 | $72.23 |
| Retail Employee Level 4 | $45.65 | $40.49 | $45.65 | $51.54 | $58.90 | $73.63 |
| Retail Employee Level 5 | $47.52 | $42.16 | $47.52 | $53.66 | $61.32 | $76.65 |
| Retail Employee Level 6 | $48.22 | $42.78 | $48.22 | $54.44 | $62.22 | $77.78 |
| Retail Employee Level 7 | $50.64 | $44.92 | $50.64 | $57.17 | $65.34 | $81.68 |
| Retail Employee Level 8 | $52.68 | $46.74 | $52.68 | $59.48 | $67.98 | $84.98 |
The casual loading is added, not multiplied
the casual percentage is the full-time percentage plus the casual loading in points, not multiplied by it. Saturday is 125% of the minimum hourly rate for a full-time or part-time employee and 150% for a casual, which is 125 plus 25. Multiplying by 1.25 would give 156.25%, which appears nowhere in the award. Every one of the 4 priced conditions sits exactly 25 percentage points above its full-time figure.
Read from Table 12—Penalty rates. A casual weekend rate cannot be worked out by taking the full-time weekend rate and adding a quarter.
The percentage applies to the minimum hourly rate.
Table 12—Penalty rates says so, and Schedule B calculates its dollar columns on that figure. Not every award uses the same base, so a percentage read here does not transfer to another award.
The award contains no clause saying penalties are cumulative, and none saying they are not. This page states only what the award states. Clause 23.1 states, “Part 6 applies only to persons specifically employed to do shiftwork.” so shiftworkers are priced in their own tables.
Where these figures come from
Verified- Percentages stated in
- Clause 22
- Dollars printed in
- Schedule B, tables B.1.1 and B.2.1
- Dollars effective from
- 1 July 2026, PR799285
- Percentages last varied
- 5 July 2024, PR776618
Every percentage was read twice, once in clause 22 and once in the heading of the schedule column that prices it, and Olivia Harper checked the dollar figures against the printed ordinary hours dollar and the printed percentage, ROUND_HALF_UP to the cent. Every shiftwork figure was divided by its own percentage and checked against the ordinary hourly rate for the same classification, 74 rows, all agreeing. Retrieved from the Fair Work award library on 2026-09-06, award consolidated to 1 July 2026.
What a penalty rate is, and what the other awards published here state, is on Penalty Rates. This page carries only what General Retail Industry Award 2020 (MA000004) states itself.