An overview of the General Retail Industry Award [MA000004]

The General Retail Industry Award 2020 outlines the rules for pay and conditions for people working in retail. This includes a range of roles, from sales assistants to store managers.

Between coverage, pay rates, leave and rostering rules, there's a lot to stay on top of. And navigating the Award is half the battle.

To keep things easy, we put together an easy-to-understand overview. It covers the important bits you need to know to pay your team correctly and stay compliant.

General Retail Award coverage

Employees covered by the Retail Award

• Retail employees: For example, sales associates, stock handlers, customer service representatives, and checkout operators.

• On-hire retail staff: For instance, contract sales staff, temporary inventory specialists, and agency customer service assistants.

• Apprentices and trainees: Apprentices and trainees in structured training programs within the retail sector. For example, retail management trainees and customer relations trainees.

Employees not covered by the Retail Award

• Other award roles: Retail roles better suited to other awards, like employees in boutique design studios covered by the Graphic Arts Award.

• High-income and senior management: For example, senior managers and high-income earners as defined by the Fair Work Act.

• Enterprise agreement employees: Retail staff under specific Modern Enterprise Agreements (EBAs), such as those at large retail chains.

• Public sector retail employees: Retail employees governed by state-specific public sector awards.

• Specialised retail roles: Roles like pharmacy assistants and automotive retail workers who fall under industry-specific awards.

Example

Mark works at a boutique fashion store that also has a small coffee bar. He spends 50% of his time selling clothes, 20% managing stock, and 30% helping in the café. Because most of his work is related to retail, Mark's employment falls under the Retail Award.

Rippling simplifies General Retail Industry Award compliance

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Employment types under the General Retail Industry Award

The Retail Award covers three main employment types:

• Full-time: These are permanent employees with ongoing contracts. They work consistent hours each week on a regular schedule. They also receive all entitlements.

• Part-time: These are also permanent employees, though they work fewer hours than full-time staff. They have set hours and receive benefits proportional to their work schedule.

• Casual: Casuals work on a flexible, as-needed basis and don’t have guaranteed hours or get the benefits that permanent employees do. However, they receive a 25% casual loading to make up for it.

Retail Award ordinary hours and rostering

The General Retail Award outlines how you need to manage ordinary hours across different employment types:

• Full-time employees work an average of 38 hours per week. You can average this over five days or, by agreement, over a longer cycle (up to four weeks).

• Part-time employees work less than 38 hours per week on a regular, pre-agreed schedule. You need to roster them on for at least three consecutive hours on any given shift.

• Casual employees can work up to 38 hours per week. They must also receive at least three consecutive hours per shift. However, you can reduce this to 1.5 hours for full-time secondary or tertiary students, if both parties agree in writing.

The award also stipulates the span of ordinary hours:

• Monday to Friday: 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

• Saturday: 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

• Sunday: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Employees can work up to nine ordinary hours per day. This is except for one day per week, when they can work up to 11 hours.

You must give employees at least seven days’ notice of any roster changes (or 48 hours by agreement). Rosters should provide regular, predictable hours. But they can include flexible arrangements. For example, 76 hours over two weeks or 152 hours over four weeks for full-time employees.

Breaks

• Employees who work for more than five hours must get an unpaid meal break of 30–60 minutes.

• If they work seven hours or more, they get two 10-minute paid rest breaks. Those working between four and seven hours get one.

• Everyone must have at least 12 hours off between shifts to ensure proper rest.

General Retail Industry Award pay

The Retail Award outlines how and when you need to pay your retail employees.

You need to pay them weekly or fortnightly for all the hours they work. And you need to do this by cash, cheque, or direct deposit. Payslips should show their hours, allowances, and any deductions clearly.

Good payroll software that understands the Retail Award can make this process much easier.

Minimum pay rates

Under the Retail Award, you must pay at least the minimum rates set for your employee's classification. Note that the Fair Work Commission (FWC) updates these rates every year.

Here are a few examples:

Casual workers earn the hourly rate plus a 25% loading on top.

Example

You hire Maria as a casual Level 4 Shop Assistant. Her base pay under the award is $28.12 per hour. If she’s casual, she gets $28.12 × 1.25 = $35.15 per hour.

Allowances

The General Retail Industry Award includes a range of allowances. They are to make sure employees receive fair pay for extra skills, duties, or work-related costs they may incur as part of their role. You pay these on top of normal wages. They may also change each year when the Fair Work Commission updates award rates.

Here are a few of the key allowances under the award: 

Superannuation

The Retail Award follows the rules set out in Australia’s superannuation laws and the National Employment Standards (NES). Here’s what you need to know:

• How much to pay: You need to pay super contributions that meet or exceed the legal Superannuation Guarantee (currently 12%) to avoid penalties.

• Who gets super: All employees aged 18 and over have a right to super. Those under 18 must get super if they work more than 30 hours a week.

• When to pay: You need to pay super at least quarterly, by the 28th day after the end of each quarter (March, June, September, and December). Many employers choose to pay super each pay cycle to stay up to date and avoid large end-of-quarter payments.

• Choosing a fund: Employees can choose their own super fund. If they don’t, you must check with the ATO to see if the employee has a stapled fund (an existing super account linked to them). If no stapled fund exists, you can pay into one of the award’s default funds, such as:

  • REST Super (Retail Employees Superannuation Trust)

  • Sunsuper

  • Statewide Superannuation Trust

  • Tasplan

  • MTAA Super

• Voluntary contributions: Employees can ask, in writing, for you to take extra post-tax contributions from their pay. They can change the amount with three months’ written notice. You must send the contributions to the fund within 28 days after the end of each month.

• During leave or injury: You need to keep paying super while an employee is on paid leave or away from work because of a work-related injury or illness. You need to do this for up to 52 weeks, as long as the employee remains employed and is receiving workers’ compensation or regular payments.

Overtime

The Retail Industry Award ensures employees get fair compensation when they work extra hours or outside their normal roster. Overtime applies when full-time staff work beyond 38 hours a week, part-timers go over their agreed hours, or casuals exceed 38 hours a week or 11 hours in a day.

Overtime rates are as follows:

• Monday to Saturday (first 3 hours): 150% for full-time and part-time staff, 175% for casuals.

• Monday to Saturday (after 3 hours): 200% for full-time and part-time staff, 225% for casuals.

• Sunday: 200% for full-time and part-time staff, 225% for casuals.

• Public holidays: 250% for full-time and part-time staff, 275% for casuals.

Employees can also choose time off instead of overtime pay. The agreement must be in writing, and they must take the time off within six months. If they don't, you must pay it out.

Example

Jake, a part-time Level 1 retail employee, works four extra hours on Friday.

Level 1 hourly = $26.55. Overtime rates = $39.83 (150%) and $53.10 (200%).

• First 3 hours: 3 × $39.83 = $119.49

• Fourth hour: 1 × $53.10 = $53.10

Total overtime pay: $172.59.

Penalty rates

The Retail Award also sets higher pay rates for employees who work evenings, weekends, or public holidays. These rates ensure retail workers receive fair compensation for giving up their evenings, weekends, and holidays to keep stores running.

Penalty rates are as follows:

• Monday to Friday (after 6:00 p.m.): 125% for full-time and part-time staff, 150% for casuals.

• Saturday: 125% for full-time and part-time staff, 150% for casuals.

• Sunday: 150% for full-time and part-time staff, 175% for casuals.

• Public holidays: 225% for full-time and part-time staff, 250% for casuals.

Example

Lucy, a casual Level 1 retail employee, works six hours on a Sunday.

Level 1 hourly = $26.55 (base rate). Sunday penalty (casual employee) = 175% of base rate = $46.46 per hour.

6 × $46.46 = $278.76 total pay for her six-hour Sunday shift.

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Retail Award leave

The Retail Award outlines clear leave and public holiday entitlements that support employees both at work and in their personal lives. These entitlements, aligned with the Fair Work Ombudsman and the NES, cover annual leave, other types of paid and unpaid leave, and specific rights around public holidays.

Annual leave

Full-time employees earn four weeks of paid annual leave every year. Part-time employees build it up on a pro-rata basis based on their hours of work. During annual leave, employees also get a 17.5% leave loading on top of their normal pay.

When an employee builds up more than eight weeks of leave, the balance counts as excessive. You and the employee should discuss a plan to reduce it. If you can't reach an agreement, you may direct the employee to take some leave, as long as they keep at least six weeks accrued.

Other types of leave

• Personal or carer’s leave:

  • Full-time: 10 paid days each year

  • Part-time: paid leave on a pro-rata basis

  • Casuals: up to 2 days of unpaid carer’s leave per occasion.

• Compassionate leave:

  • Full-time: 2 paid days per occasion

  • Part-time: 2 paid days per occasion

  • Casuals: 2 unpaid days per occasion

• Parental leave:

  • Full-time, part-time, and regular casuals with at least 12 months of service can take up to 12 months of unpaid leave. They also have the option to request another 12 months.

• Community service leave:

  • Full-time: paid for the first 10 days (of jury duty)

  • Part-time: paid for the first 10 days (of jury duty)

  • Casuals: unpaid for all community service leave

• Family and domestic violence leave:

  • All employees, including casuals, get 10 days of paid leave each year (doesn't accumulate).

Public holidays

Full-time and part-time employees get a paid day off when a public holiday falls on a day they'd normally work. Casuals only get paid if they work that day.

You can ask an employee to work on a public holiday if the request is reasonable. And the employee can refuse if they have reasonable grounds. Both sides can also agree to swap a public holiday for another day.

If an employee works on a public holiday, they earn penalty rates:

• 225% for full-time and part-time employees

• 250% for casuals (includes casual loading)

When a public holiday falls on a weekend, a substitute weekday (usually the following Monday) typically replaces it. 

Shiftwork essentials under the General Retail Industry Award

The Retail Award applies shiftwork rules only to employees who you hire specifically as shiftworkers. These rules don’t cover staff who just work late every now and then or take on extra overtime.

What counts as shiftwork

• For most retail staff, a shift qualifies as shiftwork when it starts at or after 6 p.m. and before 5 a.m.

• For baking production staff, a shift counts as shiftwork when it starts at or after midnight and before 6 a.m.

Shiftwork pay rates

• Midnight Sunday to midnight Friday: 130% for full-time and part-time, 155% for casuals

• Saturday: 150% for full-time and part-time, 175% for casuals

• Sunday: 175% for full-time and part-time, 200% for casuals

Baking production early shifts

• Starts 2 a.m.–6 a.m.: 112.5% for full-time and part-time, 137.5% for casuals

• Starts midnight–2 a.m.: 130% for full-time and part-time, 155% for casuals

Public holidays

When a shift starts on a public holiday, pay all hours at public holiday rates. Employees who choose not to work still receive their normal pay.

Breaks and rosters

Shiftworkers take paid meal and rest breaks during their shifts. You mustn't roster shiftworkers for both shiftwork and daytime work in the same week or change rosters to avoid public holiday penalties.

Nuances of the General Retail Industry Award

The Retail Award includes several detailed conditions that often trip up employers. These rules go beyond standard award obligations and reflect the flexibility and complexity of modern retail operations. Understanding them can help you avoid common compliance mistakes.

Simplify Retail Award compliance with Rippling

The General Retail Industry Award can be tricky, with strict rules around rostering, penalties, overtime, and leave. Managing all those moving parts manually takes time. And even the smallest of errors can turn into compliance stress or back-pay risks.

Rippling makes complying with the award simple. Its all-in-one workforce management platform brings HR, Payroll, and IT together in one system, all built on a single source of truth. That means every change, from a roster update to a new hire, automatically flows through to payroll, timesheets, and employee records.

Rippling’s platform automatically:

• Applies the correct Retail Award pay rates, loadings, and penalties.

• Tracks ordinary hours, overtime, and leave accruals in real time.

• Flags compliance risks before they become problems.

• Keeps everything in sync so you never have to re-enter data or double-check pay runs.

With Rippling, you can spend less time decoding award rules and more time running your business.