Penalty Rates Calculator.
Price a week of work at your award rates. Saturday, Sunday, public holiday and shift loadings across 33 modern awards, at the minimum rates that took effect on 1 July 2026.
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| Component | Formula | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary hours (Mon-Fri) | 24h × $27.99 (100%) | $671.76 |
| Saturday | 8h × $34.99 (125%) | $279.90 |
| Sunday | 6h × $41.98 (150%) | $251.91 |
| Same hours at the ordinary rate | 38h × $27.99 | $1,063.62 |
| Extra from penalties | gross - ordinary-rate equivalent | $139.95 |
| Weekly gross | sum of every line above | $1,203.57 |
Disclaimer: This tool does not constitute legal or financial advice. Penalty rates change when the Fair Work Commission varies an award, and several awards set different rates for juniors, apprentices and specific classifications. Confirm your own award clause before relying on a figure. For official guidance, visit the Fair Work Ombudsman.
What a penalty rate actually is
A penalty rate is extra pay for working at a time most people do not: a weekend, a public holiday, an evening or overnight. It is written into your modern award as a percentage of your base hourly rate, and it is not part of the National Employment Standards. The NES gives you leave and hours; every cent above base rate for a Sunday comes from the award or from an enterprise agreement.
The formula. Base hourly rate x award percentage = penalty hourly rate. Penalty hourly rate x hours worked at that rate = pay for those hours.
Casuals. Add the 25% casual loading to the percentage, not to the result. A 150% Sunday becomes 175%, not 187.5%.
Percentages are always stated against the base rate, so 125% is time and a quarter, 150% is time and a half, 200% is double time and 250% is double time and a half. That is why two people doing the same Sunday shift in the same suburb can be paid very differently: the number comes from which award covers the business, not from the work itself.
Saturday and Sunday penalty rates by award
The rate a full-time or part-time employee receives for each hour worked, as a percentage of base rate. The dollar columns show what that is worth on a $35base rate, which is a comparison figure rather than anyone's actual pay. Open your own award for the classification rates.
| Award | Code | Saturday | Sunday | Sunday on $35/hr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphic Arts & Printing | MA000026 | 200% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Banking & Finance | MA000019 | 150%, then 200% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Building & Construction | MA000020 | 150%, then 200% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Cleaning Services | MA000022 | 150% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Education Support | MA000076 | 150% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Electrical Contracting | MA000025 | 150%, then 200% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Legal Services | MA000116 | 150%, then 200% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Manufacturing | MA000010 | 150%, then 200% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Mining | MA000011 | 150%, then 200% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Plumbing & Fire Sprinklers | MA000036 | 150%, then 200% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Road Transport | MA000038 | 150% | 200% | $70.00 |
| SCHADS | MA000100 | 150% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Security Services | MA000016 | 150% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Storage Services & Wholesale | MA000084 | 150% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Vehicle Repair & Retail | MA000089 | 150% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Waste Management | MA000043 | 150%, then 200% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Hair and Beauty | MA000005 | 133% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Clerks (Private Sector) | MA000002 | 125% | 200% | $70.00 |
| Aged Care | MA000018 | 150% | 175% | $61.25 |
| Local Government | MA000112 | 150% | 175% | $61.25 |
| Medical Practitioners | MA000031 | 150% | 175% | $61.25 |
| Nurses | MA000034 | 150% | 175% | $61.25 |
| Registered Clubs | MA000058 | 150% | 175% | $61.25 |
| Health Professionals | MA000027 | 150% | 150% | $52.50 |
| Fast Food | MA000003 | 125% | 150% | $52.50 |
| General Retail | MA000004 | 125% | 150% | $52.50 |
| Hospitality | MA000009 | 125% | 150% | $52.50 |
| Pharmacy | MA000012 | 125% | 150% | $52.50 |
| Restaurant | MA000119 | 125% | 150% | $52.50 |
| Miscellaneous | MA000104 | 120% | 150% | $52.50 |
| Gardening & Landscaping | MA000101 | No penalty | No penalty | $35.00 |
| Real Estate | MA000106 | No penalty | No penalty | $35.00 |
| Teachers | MA000077 | No penalty | No penalty | $35.00 |
Rates verified against the official award text on awards.fairwork.gov.au. Percentages are of the base hourly rate for full-time and part-time employees; casuals add the 25% loading. Where a Saturday shows two rates, the first applies to the opening hours of the shift and the second to the rest. Several awards vary the rate by classification, so confirm the penalty clause of your own award.
The awards that split the Saturday
8 of the 33 awards here pay a lower rate for the opening hours of a Saturday and a higher rate afterwards. The threshold runs per Saturday rather than per week, so a long single shift crosses it and two short ones do not.
| Award | First hours | Rate | After that |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banking & Finance | 3 hours | 150% | 200% |
| Building & Construction | 2 hours | 150% | 200% |
| Electrical Contracting | 2 hours | 150% | 200% |
| Legal Services | 3 hours | 150% | 200% |
| Manufacturing | 3 hours | 150% | 200% |
| Mining | 3 hours | 150% | 200% |
| Plumbing & Fire Sprinklers | 2 hours | 150% | 200% |
| Waste Management | 2 hours | 150% | 200% |
Shift loadings by award
Shift loadings are paid on ordinary hours worked outside the normal day, and they sit separately from the weekend penalties above. Only the 23 awards that carry a loading are listed; the rest pay the ordinary rate for evening and overnight work unless a weekend or public holiday penalty applies.
| Award | Afternoon / evening | Night | Permanent night |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building & Construction | 150% | 150% | 130% |
| Plumbing & Fire Sprinklers | 133% | 133% | 133% |
| General Retail | 125% | 130% | 130% |
| Road Transport | 117.5% | 130% | 130% |
| Storage Services & Wholesale | 115% | 130% | No penalty |
| Vehicle Repair & Retail | 118% | 130% | 130% |
| Waste Management | 117.5% | 130% | 130% |
| Banking & Finance | 120% | 125% | 130% |
| Medical Practitioners | 112.5% | 125% | 125% |
| Graphic Arts & Printing | 120% | 120% | 130% |
| Aged Care | 112.5% | 115% | 115% |
| Cleaning Services | 115% | 115% | 130% |
| Clerks (Private Sector) | 115% | 115% | 130% |
| Education Support | 115% | 115% | 130% |
| Electrical Contracting | 115% | 115% | 130% |
| Health Professionals | 115% | 115% | 115% |
| Legal Services | 115% | 115% | 130% |
| Manufacturing | 115% | 115% | 130% |
| Mining | 115% | 115% | 130% |
| Nurses | 112.5% | 115% | 115% |
| SCHADS | 112.5% | 115% | 115% |
| Fast Food | No penalty | 110% | No penalty |
| Security Services | 121.7% | No penalty | 130% |
Shift definitions differ between awards: what counts as an afternoon shift, when a night shift starts, and when a roster becomes permanent night shift are all set by the award, not by the clock alone. Check the shiftwork clause on your award page before applying a loading.
Public holidays are a separate calculation
Working a public holiday attracts the highest penalty in most awards, usually 250%. But a public holiday also carries something no other day type does: if you do not work it, section 116 of the Fair Work Act still pays you your base rate for the ordinary hours you would have worked. This calculator prices hours you actually worked. For the paid day off, the working-day ratio that decides how many holidays a part-timer is paid for, and the 2026 dates by state, use the public holiday pay calculator.
What this calculator does not include
- Overtime. Overtime is a separate clause with its own multipliers and its own trigger points, and it stacks differently in every award. Every hour entered above is treated as an ordinary rostered hour.
- Allowances. Meal, travel, tool, first aid, laundry and leading hand allowances are listed on each award page and are not part of the penalty calculation.
- Junior and apprentice percentages. Rates are the adult minimum for the classification. Juniors and apprentices are paid a percentage of it.
- Annual leave loading. The 17.5% is paid on leave you take, not on hours you work, so it is not a penalty rate. Use the leave loading calculator for that.
- Minimum engagement and broken shift rules. Most awards guarantee a minimum number of paid hours per engagement. Check your award clause if a shift was cut short.
Related calculators
- Public holiday pay calculator for the paid day off under s.116 and the 2026 holiday calendar by state.
- Modern awards by industry, the full penalty rate, classification and allowance detail for each of the 33 awards.
- Leave loading calculator for the 17.5% on annual leave, and the 25% casual loading on its own.
- Annual leave calculator for accrual and balance under the NES.
- Final pay calculator for what is owed when employment ends.
Penalty rate questions.
What people ask before picking up a weekend shift.
How do you calculate penalty rates?
What are the penalty rates in Australia?
What is the Sunday penalty rate?
Do casuals get penalty rates on top of the casual loading?
Do part-time employees get penalty rates?
Why does Saturday pay change part-way through the shift?
Do I get penalty rates if I am on an annual salary?
Do penalty rates count towards superannuation?
Where these figures come from.
Penalty percentages are read from the penalty and shiftwork clauses of each modern award and were verified against the official award text on awards.fairwork.gov.au. Each figure is expressed as a percentage of the base hourly rate for full-time and part-time employees, which is how the awards themselves write it.
Dollar rates are the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide minimum weekly rates for each classification, operative 1 July 2026 following Annual Wage Review 2026 [2026] FWCFB 3500, converted to an hourly rate over a 38-hour week. Casual figures add the 25% casual loading to the penalty percentage, which is the approach most awards take. Overtime, allowances, junior and apprentice percentages and minimum-engagement rules sit outside the penalty clauses and are not calculated here.