Real Estate Industry Award [MA000106] pay guide: Rates, allowances, and overtime

The Real Estate Industry Award 2020 outlines the base pay and working conditions for people working in real estate. For instance, sales, property management, and agency support.

Note: This guide is up to date as of August 2025. Please check the latest version of the Real Estate Industry Award 2020 for the most current information.

Real Estate Industry pay rates

This section covers everything you need to pay your employees under the Real Estate Industry Award. You’ll find information on the minimum rates, allowances, overtime, penalty rates for weekends and public holidays, and superannuation.

Real Estate Award minimum pay rates

The Real Estate Industry Award sets minimum weekly rates for full-time employees. It also sets minimum hourly rates for part-time and casual employees. Casuals need to receive the casual loading (an additional 25%) on top of the minimum rates you see here.  

Note that the minimum rates the Real Estate Award defines differ from the national minimum wage set by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). 

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Real Estate Award allowances

This award expects you to include allowances each pay, where necessary. You pay them in addition to the above base pay. The purpose is to cover out-of-pocket costs and recognised skills.

Real Estate Award superannuation

Most superannuation rules come from federal law (the Superannuation Guarantee), not the Real Estate Industry Award. The award mostly mirrors the rules, while adding a few fund-choice steps. Here are the essentials to keep in mind:

• Superannuation Guarantee (SG) rate: You must pay a minimum of 12% of each employee’s ordinary-time earnings (OTE) in super contributions. 

• Who gets SG: Everyone over 18. For under-18s, you only pay SG for the weeks that they work over 30 hours. There’s no $450 monthly threshold anymore.

• Choice and stapled fund: Offer employees fund choice. If they don’t choose, ask the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for their stapled fund. If there isn’t one, pay into a default fund named in the award (or its successor).

• Voluntary contributions: If an employee asks, deduct salary-sacrifice or after-tax amounts and send them to their super fund within 28 days after the end of the month. Employees can change the voluntary contribution amount with three months’ written notice.

• Paid leave and workers’ comp: Keep paying SG while an employee is on paid leave. If they’re off work because of a work-related injury or illness, keep paying SG for up to 52 weeks. Only keep paying while they remain employed and receive workers’ comp or regular payments.

• Make the payments on time: You need to lodge SG by the due dates each quarter to avoid the SG charge. The due dates are 28 Oct, 28 Jan, 28 Apr, 28 Jul, respectively.

Real Estate Industry Award overtime and penalty rates 

In real estate, an employee working extra hours on a normal working day doesn't attract overtime. You pay their ordinary rate or agree to time off in lieu (TOIL). Overtime only kicks in when an employee works on their rostered day off (or half-day off). 

Public holidays follow the roster. If the holiday sits on a rostered workday, treat those hours as public holiday work (not overtime). But if the holiday falls on their day off and you call them in, then you need to treat those hours as overtime.

Also, for overtime to apply, you must direct the extra work. For example, a rostered change, an email/text to work late, or a call-in. If the employee stays back on their own accord, for instance, it doesn’t count as overtime. 

TOIL 

Instead of paying overtime, TOIL lets you give the equivalent time off. You need to note the overtime hours the employee worked that period, then credit them with hour for hour TOIL. You must pay any unused time off at the overtime rate after six months or on request. If employment ends, pay out any unused TOIL at the overtime rate.

Penalty rates

The award doesn’t have Saturday or Sunday penalty rates for ordinary hours. Ordinary hours can fall Monday to Sunday at the base rate.

The only ordinary-hours penalty is public holidays. You need to apply the public-holiday penalty (200%) and abide by the three-hour minimum engagement. 

Real Estate Award annual leave

Annual leave comes from the NES, not directly from the Real Estate Industry Award. However, the award does have some additional bits and bobs to be aware of. 

• Who gets it: All full-time and part-time employees. Casuals don’t get annual leave (they get casual loading instead). 

• Accrual and carryover: Employees build leave progressively from their ordinary hours. Unused leave rolls over from one year to the next.

• Public holidays during leave: If there’s a public holiday within a period of annual leave, treat that day as a public holiday. Don’t deduct it from the leave balance.

• Leave loading: Pay 17.5% on top of the employee’s minimum weekly wage for the period they’re on leave for. Exclude commission-only employees and leave taken in advance.

• Taking leave and shutdowns: Employees can take leave by agreement. You can direct paid annual leave for a temporary shutdown. The direction has to be reasonable, though, and you must provide at least 28 days’ written notice. If someone doesn’t have enough leave banked up, you can agree to leave in advance or unpaid leave, but you can’t direct unpaid leave.

• Excessive balances: More than eight weeks counts as excessive. Try to agree on a plan for the employee to use some of it. If that fails, you can direct leave within the award’s notice and minimum-balance rules.

• Cash out: You can cash out up to two weeks of annual leave per 12 months by written agreement. The employee must keep at least four weeks in the bank, though. 

• Final pay: When employment ends, you must pay out all unused annual leave at the employee’s current base rate.

• Records and payslips: Keep accurate leave records. While good practice, it’s not a requirement that payslips show leave balances.

Other types of leave

• Personal/carer’s leave: Full-time and part-time employees each have a right to 10 days of paid personal leave each year. Part-timers accrue this on a pro rata basis.

• Compassionate leave: Employees get two days of compassionate leave per occasion. It’s paid for permanent staff and unpaid for casuals.

• Parental leave: Eligible employees can take up to 12 months unpaid leave. They can also request an extra 12 months.

• Community service leave: Employees can take unpaid community service leave. For jury duty, however, you need to pay make-up pay for the first 10 days for full-time and part-time staff.

• Family and domestic violence leave: All employees (including casuals) get 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave every year.

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Rules for payment of wages under the Real Estate Industry Award

• Payslips: You need to issue compliant payslips and show any allowances on a separate line.

• Pay cycle: You can pay your full-time and part-time employees weekly, fortnightly, or monthly. You should pay your casuals at the end of your usual pay cycle unless you both agree for payment to happen at the end of each shift.

• How you pay: It’s your choice whether you pay by cash, cheque, or EFT. 

• When employment ends: You need to pay everything owing to the employee within seven days. This includes wages up to the last day as well as any other amounts you owe under the award and the NES. The FWC can vary the timing in limited instances.

Commission, bonus and incentive payments

• Put it in writing: Outline the method or formula in a written agreement. Give the employee a copy and note any changes in writing too.

• When to pay: You need to pay within 14 days after the entitlement becomes payable. Note that it only becomes payable once your client’s funds reach your account.

• After employment ends: The employee still earns commission or bonus on deals with a binding contract signed before termination. The same rule applies if the buyer and seller signed the contract before the exclusive agency ended. Again, it becomes payable only once your client’s funds reach your account. 

Commission-only employment (sales roles)

• Who can be commission-only: Level 2+ sales/leasing roles only. Casuals, part-timers, juniors, or Level 1 employees can’t be commission-only employees. The employee must be over 21 and hold an appropriate license or registration. They must also have 12 consecutive months of relevant experience within the last three years and meet the Minimum Income Threshold Amount (MITA) test.

• Minimum commission rate and review: You need to pay at least 31.5% of your gross commission on each deal. Do a yearly income review. If the employee’s total earnings for the year are below 125% of the annualised minimum award wage for their classification? Then you need to end the commission-only arrangement until they re-qualify.

Nuances of the Real Estate Industry Award

Here’s a table that covers some of the main Real Estate Award ‘gotchas’. Before you run payroll, it’s helpful to know what they are, what they mean, where they can cause you to slip up, and how to fix them. 

Real Estate Award pay compliance: 8 considerations

Paying people under the Real Estate Award has many moving parts. Here’s a list of considerations that can help you keep your payroll tight, compliant, and easy to audit:

1. Stay up to date on rate changes: Check award updates every July (and any mid-year variations). Update your pay tables and payroll rules in the same week.

2. Use payroll automation. Invest in payroll software to calculate wages, overtime, penalties, and super. Schedule pay runs and lock rates so no one fat-fingers a number.

3. Keep clean records: Log hours worked, classifications, agreed part-time hours, and all allowances. Issue payslips that show allowances on their own line.

4. Review payroll regularly: Run a quarterly check of timesheets vs rosters, allowances, leave accruals, and super. If you come across errors, fix them and process any back pay quickly.

5. Train your team: Make sure your HR and payroll staff understand the award’s overtime triggers, public holiday rules, and TOIL steps. Remember to refresh training after each award change.

6. Call in experts when needed: If you get stuck, lean on an IR specialist for tricky items like shutdowns, excessive leave, or commission setups. Update your policies and system settings according to their advice.

7. Manage leave in real time: Use HR and payroll software that can track balances and apply public holiday rules correctly. It’s also helpful if it can show employees their leave balance so they can plan their time off.

8. Communicate clearly. Explain how you calculate pay, overtime, penalties, and leave. Tell people when changes hit their pay.

Put Real Estate Industry Award pay on autopilot with Rippling

Rippling keeps your Real Estate Industry Award payroll on track. Set each person’s classification and ordinary hours once, and the system applies the right rates, loadings, penalties, overtime, and TOIL automatically.

It handles leave the right way (no public-holiday deductions and leave loading where required). It also calculates super at the current rate and builds final pay with everything included.

Before you run payroll, Rippling flags anything that looks a bit off so you can fix it first. This may be missing allowances, roster breaches, or just odd hours. You get compliant payslips, a clean audit trail, and rules that update without input from you when the award changes.

Review the numbers, hit run, and everyone gets paid correctly and on time. It’s as easy as that!