Funeral Industry Award.

Funeral Industry Award 2020 (MA000105) covers funeral services, removal of deceased human remains, coffin manufacturing, ancillary funeral services. Common roles include funeral directing assistance and preparation work, funeral arranging and conducting, embalming, removals. Saturday and Sunday fall outside ordinary hours, which run Monday to Friday between 7.00am and 7.00pm (clause 13.2(a)). Saturday is 150% for the first 3 hours then 200%, Sunday is 200% and a public holiday is 200%, with a minimum of 2 hours' pay on a Saturday or Sunday and 4 hours' pay for carrying out a funeral on a Saturday (clause 21.1). Clause 21.1 excludes removals from those rates. After hours, a removal between 7.00pm and midnight is 150% for the first 3 hours then 200% (175% then 225% for a casual), and a removal with any part between midnight and 7.00am is 200% (225% for a casual) (clause 19.4). The casual Saturday and Sunday cells above show no figure because the award does not state those rates: its casual rate schedule has no Saturday or Sunday column (Schedule A.2.1), and the casual loading is attached to ordinary hours (clause 11.1). It does print 225% on a public holiday for casuals other than shiftworkers, and 145% on afternoon shift and 175% on a non-continuing afternoon shift for casual shiftworkers (Schedules A.2.1 and A.2.2). Casuals are paid for at least 4 hours each time they attend (clause 11.3). The only shift loading is the afternoon shift: 120%, or 150% where it does not continue for at least 5 successive afternoons (clause 20.5). There is no night shift loading and no shiftworker definition for a fifth week of annual leave, and the 17.5% leave loading is calculated on the clause 15 minimum rate for everyone (clause 22.2). Grade 1 at $978.10 is below the National Minimum Wage and can last no more than 6 months (clause 12.1). The award covers employers in funeral services, coffin manufacturing, removals and ancillary services, and their classified employees, to the exclusion of any other modern award (clauses 4.1 and 4.2), so the Miscellaneous Award does not apply to them. Employers in the cemetery industry are not covered (clause 4.3).

Full-time and part-time employees are paid 150% of their base hourly rate for the first 3 hours worked on Saturday, then 200% for any hours after that. Casual employees receive a rate this award does not state, so check the FWO pay calculator for your classification.

FT/PT employees are paid 200% of the base hourly rate (2.00x) for Sunday work. Casuals receive a rate this award does not state, so check the FWO pay calculator for your classification.

FT/PT employees who work on a gazetted public holiday are paid 200% of the base hourly rate (2.00x). Casuals receive 225% (the FT rate plus the 25% casual loading). Employees who don't work the holiday receive their ordinary day's pay if it would otherwise have been a working day.

4 weeks per year of full-time service under the NES, paid pro-rata for part-time. The Funeral Industry Award does not classify any of its workers as continuous-shift workers under NES s.87(1)(b), so the 5-week shift-worker entitlement does not apply. Calculate annual leave accrual →

Day workers get a flat 17.5% on the minimum hourly rate. Shift workers get the same flat 17.5%. Leave loading calculator →

25% on top of the base hourly rate, paid in place of entitlements a casual does not get, such as paid annual leave and paid personal/carer's leave. Casual loading is added to the FT/PT rate for public holidays and afternoon or evening shifts. This award does not state a single casual rate for Saturday and Sunday.

Yes. Tied to the work cycle rather than a stated accrual. Ordinary hours average 38 a week over a cycle of 7, 14, 21 or 28 consecutive days (clause 13.1). Where an employee is entitled to a rostered day off in the cycle, the employer must give at least 4 weeks' notice of the date, and the day can be swapped by agreement (clause 13.3(a) to (c)). By agreement, rostered days off can be banked to cover peak demand over a period of up to 10 months and taken with at least 7 days' notice (clause 13.3(d)). Work on a rostered day off is paid at 150% (clause 19.2). RDOs are paid days off, distinct from annual leave; they exist to balance ordinary hours over a fixed period. If you are paid out on termination, accrued RDO time is typically included.

Yes. Under this award, evening work shift finishing after 7.00pm and at or before midnight, Monday to Friday attracts 120% of the base hourly rate (1.20x). For casuals, the 25% casual loading is added on top of these penalty rates.

The Fair Work Commission reviews award minimum rates each year in the Annual Wage Review. The rates on this page took effect from 1 July 2026. The official source is the FWO Pay Calculator, which always reflects the current rates. Open the FWO Pay Calculator →