Fitness Industry Award [MA000094] pay guide: Rates, allowances, and overtime

Author

The Rippling Team

Published

18 August 2024

Updated

9 December 2025

Read time

6 MIN

In this article

The Fitness Industry Award sets the minimum pay rules for employees working in gyms, fitness centres, health clubs, and similar facilities across Australia. This includes roles like fitness instructors, personal trainers (when employed), reception staff, and gym managers.

What makes this award easy to trip over is how many variables affect pay. Rates change based on classification level, age, and employment type. Early mornings, late nights, weekends, and public holidays all attract different penalties. Casual loading also applies on top of base rates, which can push costs higher than expected.

Fitness Industry Award pay guide

Below, you can find everything to do with Fitness Industry Award pay rates and rules:

Fitness Award minimum pay rates

The Fitness Industry Award mandates minimum weekly pay for full-time fitness roles and matching minimum hourly rates for part-timers. These rates are specific to the award (separate from the national minimum wage).

Casuals get a 25% loading on ordinary hours.

	Description	Rates/details	Example
Adult employees	Employees aged 21 and over	Level 1: $922.70/week ($24.28/hour) Level 2: $948.00/week ($24.95/hour) Level 3: $1,014.70/week ($26.70/hour) Level 3A: $1,068.40/week ($28.12/hour) Level 4: $1,112.30/week ($29.27/hour) Level 4A: $1,165.70/week ($30.68/hour) Level 5: $1,228.80/week ($32.34/hour) Level 6: $1,218.10/week ($32.06/hour) Level 7: $1,265.60/week ($33.31/hour)	You’d pay a 35-year-old senior fitness instructor $1,228.80 per week or $32.34 per hour.
Junior employees	Employees aged under 21	Under 17: 55% of adult employee rate17 years: 65% of adult employee rate18 years: 75% of adult employee rate19 years: 85% of adult employee rate20 years: 100% of adult employee rate	You’d pay an 18-year-old grade pool lifeguard $761.03/week ($20.02/hour).
Higher duties	Employees who perform duties of a classification higher than their ordinary classification	If you assign an employee to higher-classification duties, you need to pay them the higher classification rate for the period they perform those duties.	If a Level 1 employee performs Level 3 duties for two hours, you need to pay them the Level 3 rate of $28.12 for those two hours.
Supported wage system	Employees with disabilities who are eligible for a supported wage	Pay the assessed percentage of the relevant minimum rate. This should never be less than $109/week (this floor also applies during the SWS trial).	If a worker’s SWS assessment is 90%, you pay 90% of the minimum rate for their classification.
National training wage	Employees undertaking a traineeship	Rates depend on the training package, qualification level, and year of training.	You'd need to pay a first-year trainee in a Certificate III program according to the specified rates for that training package and year.

Build a team that runs smoother every year

Practical, no-fluff lessons from Australian founders, HR, and Ops leaders.

Compare with 500+ businesses
Discover new hiring and pay trends
Learn how to stay compliant and competitive
See how leading teams operate in Australia and globally

By clicking “Get the insights →”, you agree to the use of your data in accordance with Rippling's Privacy Notice, including for marketing purposes.

Fitness Award allowances

The award outlines various allowances you need to pay on top of base wages. These allowances cover special skills or extra costs employees may incur while carrying out their duties.

	Description	Amount/details
Meal allowance	For employees required to work overtime	$14.97 for a meal if working overtime for more than one and a half hours immediately after their ordinary hours of work, unless the employer provides a meal.
Split shift allowance	For employees working a rostered split shift	$17.25 per day extra, and an additional expense-related allowance of $2.15 per day for excess fares.
First aid allowance	For employees rostered to be on first aid duty	$3.25 extra per day when assigned to first aid duties.
Vehicle allowance	For employees using their own vehicles for work purposes	$0.98 per kilometre for a motor vehicle; $0.32 per kilometre for a motorcycle.
Uniforms and protective clothing	For employees required to wear specific clothing	Reimbursement for the reasonable cost of purchasing and laundering or dry cleaning the clothing, unless provided and cleaned by the employer.
Travelling time and fares	For employees required to travel between work locations	Reimburse all necessary fares. Count all time spent travelling as working time and pay it at the correct rate.
Sleepover allowance	For employees required to sleep at the workplace and be available for urgent matters.	Pay three hours at the ordinary hourly rate for an eight-hour sleepover (covers up to two hours of work in that period). Pay any work beyond two hours at overtime rates.
Leading hand/supervisor allowance	For employees at Level 4A (or below) in charge of a team.	1–5 employees: $30.44/week 6–10 employees: $41.60/week 10+ employees: $55.81/week

Fitness Industry Award superannuation

Super rules don’t come from the award. They come from the federal Superannuation Guarantee (SG) law. The Fitness Industry Award mostly mirrors those rules. It just adds steps about which fund to use when an employee doesn’t choose one.

SG rate: You need to pay the current superannuation guarantee (12%) of each employee’s ordinary-time earnings (OTE).
Who gets SG: Everyone 18 and over. For under-18s, you pay SG only for the weeks they work more than 30 hours. The old $450 per month threshold doesn't apply anymore.
Choice and stapled fund: Offer a fund choice. If the employee doesn’t choose one, you can request their stapled fund from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). If there isn’t one, use a default fund allowed by the Fitness Industry Award.
When to pay: You need to make SG contributions at least quarterly, by 28 Oct, 28 Jan, 28 Apr, and 28 Jul. From 1 July 2026, payday super comes into effect. This will require you to pay super contributions at the same time as wages, rather than quarterly.
What counts as OTE: OTE includes paid leave, so SG keeps accruing while an employee is taking paid time off.
Salary sacrifice/employee extra contributions: Get it in writing if an employee asks to salary-sacrifice or make after-tax super contributions. Then send the amount to their fund with your next super run.
Workers’ compensation: You need to pay SG for up to 52 weeks if a work injury or illness keeps someone off work. Only do this while they remain employed and receive workers’ comp or regular payments, though.

Fitness Award overtime and penalty rates

In fitness, overtime starts when someone goes past the daily/weekly limits or outside the award’s ordinary span. For example:

more than the average 38 hours a week over the roster period (max 4 weeks)
over 10 ordinary hours in a day (not counting meal breaks)
outside the span of ordinary hours set by the award (Monday–Friday: 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Saturday–Sunday: 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.)
Any hours beyond their agreed ordinary hours (part-timers)

	Full- and part-time employees	Casual employees (no casual loading on overtime
Monday to Saturday (first two hours)	150%	150%
Monday to Saturday (after 2 hours)	200%	200%
Sunday (all day)	200%	200%
Public holiday (all day)	250%	250%

Rest after overtime

You need to provide 10 consecutive hours off between finishing and the next start. If you don’t, you need to pay 200% until the break starts. Then you must let them take the 10-hour rest with no loss of ordinary pay.

If the stint right before that break was three hours or fewer, the double-time rule doesn’t apply. Still plan the roster to deliver the full 10-hour break if you can, though.

Time off in lieu (TOIL)

You and the employee can agree to swap overtime pay for time off. However, you need a separate written agreement each pay period. It must state how many overtime hours the employee worked and when they worked them.
You need to bank TOIL hour-for-hour, and the employee must take it within six months. If the employee asks, or the six months pass, you need to pay those hours at the overtime rate in the next pay run.

	Full-and part-time employees	Casual employees (includes 30% loading)
Saturday	125%	130%
Sunday	150%	130%
Public holiday	250%	130%

Casual loading: For casuals, ordinary hours on Sat/Sun/public holidays attract a 30% loading (different to the usual 25% Monday–Friday casual loading). These are ordinary-hours penalties and don’t stack with overtime. You need to pay whichever is higher.
Minimum engagement rules: For casuals, it’s generally three hours, with a one-hour exception for group exercise class instructors/trainers (Levels 2–4/4A). On public holidays, the four-hour minimum applies to everyone.

Fitness Industry Award annual leave

Annual leave comes from the NES, so it applies no matter what award covers the employee. The Fitness Industry Award does add a few rules on loading, shutdowns, and admin, though.

Who gets it

Full-time and part-time employees earn paid annual leave.
Casual employees don’t earn annual leave (they get casual loading instead).

How annual leave builds up and carries over

Employees accrue annual leave progressively from their ordinary hours.
Unused leave rolls over to the next year.

Public holidays during annual leave

If a public holiday falls within a period of an employee's annual leave, treat that day as a public holiday. Don’t deduct it from their annual leave balance.
Pay the public holiday separately as paid time.

Annual leave loading

You need to pay a 17.5% leave loading on paid annual leave.
If the weekend or shift penalties the employee would have earned are higher than 17.5% for the same period, you need to pay the higher amount.

Taking leave and shutdowns

Approve annual leave by agreement. Don’t unreasonably refuse requests.
You can direct paid annual leave for a temporary shutdown. However, you must give at least 28 days’ written notice.
If an employee doesn’t have enough leave, you can agree to leave in advance or unpaid leave. But you can’t force them to take unpaid leave.

Excessive leave balances

If an employee has more than eight weeks of annual leave banked, it counts as an excessive leave balance.
First, try to come to an agreement with the employee about reducing it. If that fails, you can direct them to take leave with reasonable notice. They must keep at least six weeks in the balance. You must also limit each direction to two weeks, capped at four weeks in any 12 months.

Cashing out annual leave

This can only happen by written agreement.
The employee must keep at least four weeks after cashing out. They can cash out up to two weeks per 12 months.
Pay cashed out annual leave in the same way you would if the employee took the leave. This means including any leave loading that would apply.

When employment ends

Pay out all unused annual leave in the final pay at the employee’s current base rate.
Include the leave loading on the payout.

Records you must keep

Keep track of annual leave accrual, usage, and balances for each employee. Modern HR and payroll software can make this part easy.

Other NES leave (quick reference)

Personal/carer’s leave: 10 paid days a year for full-time (pro rata for part-time)
Compassionate leave: two days per occasion (paid for permanent staff, unpaid for casuals)
Parental leave: Up to 12 months unpaid, with the right to ask for a further 12 months
Community service leave: Unpaid, except for jury duty, which requires make-up pay for the first 10 days for full-time and part-time employees
Family and domestic violence leave: 10 paid days per year for all employees, including casuals

Put Fitness Industry Award payroll on autopilot

See Rippling

Fitness Award payment rules

Pay cycle
Pay your employees weekly or fortnightly. If the majority agrees, you can pay monthly.
How you pay
Pay in cash, by cheque, or by EFT into the employees' nominated accounts.
If payday is a rostered day off (cash/cheque)
You need to pay on the next working day, or the day before (if you both arrange for it to happen that way).
Averaging system
If you average ordinary hours, bank a credit when someone works an extra day. Record a debit when they miss a day without paid leave (don’t debit for paid leave, workers’ comp, or jury duty). For part-day absences, you must record a proportional debit.
Final pay
Pay everything you owe within seven days of termination. This includes wages up to the last day and any other amounts due under the award and the NES.

Nuances of the Fitness Industry Award

Here are a few Fitness Award 'gotchas' worth understanding and baking into your payroll playbook before they catch you out:

Nuance	What it means	Why it matters
Public holidays for casuals	You need to pay casual employees under the Fitness Industry Award 130% of the minimum hourly rate for ordinary hours worked on a public holiday. This is lower than the public holiday rates used in many other awards.	If you reuse public holiday settings from another award, you’ll likely pay the wrong rate. That leads to back pay, payroll fixes, and awkward conversations with staff.
No casual loading on overtime	Casual loading doesn’t apply on top of overtime. You calculate overtime from the minimum hourly rate using the award’s overtime multipliers only.	A common mistake is calculating overtime from the loaded casual rate. That inflates wages and makes payslips harder for employees to understand.
Penalties don’t stack	Under the Fitness Industry Award, penalties generally don’t stack. When multiple penalties could apply, you pay the highest single rate, instead of all of them together.	Stacking penalties quickly pushes pay well above award requirements. Clear payroll rules help keep costs predictable and ensure you pay employees correctly every time.

Fitness award pay compliance: 6-step checklist

Here are some steps you can follow to help you run payroll correctly under the Fitness Award:

01
Start with award-smart HR and payroll software
Implement a HR and payroll platform that knows the Fitness Award. This can do most of the heavy lifting for you and take the stress out of compliance.
02
Set the right classification (software can’t guess this)
Map each role to a Fitness Award level and write a one-pager of typical duties. Update the level in your HRIS when duties change or you promote someone.
03
Use time and attendance software you can trust
Good time and attendance software creates a clear record of hours worked, flags exceptions, and feeds clean data straight into payroll. That means fewer disputes, fewer corrections, and payslips staff can easily understand.
04
Lock in a clear TOIL policy
Start by deciding when you allow TOIL. Then set a six-month expiry with auto-payout at overtime rates if unused or on request.
05
Roster to meet minimum engagements
Plan casual shifts to meet the three-hour minimum (or the one-hour class rule where it applies). On public holidays, build the four-hour minimum into the roster before you publish it. Good scheduling software can make this far easier.
06
Define travel rules between sites
List which trips count, how staff record time and kilometres, and what evidence you need (odometer or receipts). Approve it like you would any other timesheet line.
07
Keep allowances tied to actual duties instead of job titles
Name your first aiders and leading hands in writing. Track expirations for CPR/First Aid and update rosters when responsibilities change so the right allowances fire automatically.
08
Make sure managers understand how the award works
Rostering decisions directly affect pay. Managers need to understand minimum engagements, penalty windows, public holiday rules, and overtime triggers before they build rosters. A solid learning management system (LMS) that puts training on autopilot can prevent most issues before they start.

Get Fitness Award pay right and on time every time

With Rippling, you can stop wrestling with pay rules. It's innovative HR and payroll software that enables you to set each person’s Fitness Award level and ordinary hours once. From there, the software applies the correct rates, loadings, penalties, overtime, and TOIL rules automatically. This not only saves a lot of time but also a lot of errors that stem from manual handling.

Before you run payroll, Rippling flags anything that looks strange so you can fix it before it becomes an issue. This may include missing allowances, incorrect minimum engagements, or odd hours, for example. Once payroll is complete, the software issues compliant payslips and keeps a clean audit trail.

And, like truly automated software should, it updates settings automatically when the award changes.

Rippling helps with Fitness Industry Award leave, superannuation, and more.

See Rippling

Disclaimer

Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting and legal advisers before engaging in any related activities or transactions.