Australian award rates for field service: what to know
Which awards typically apply, where penalty rates kick in, and how to make sure your loaded rates reflect them.
Modern Awards set the minimum legal pay and conditions for most Australian employees. If you employ staff in a field service business — cleaning, lawn care, landscaping, electrical, plumbing — there's almost certainly an award that applies, and getting it wrong is expensive.
This is a plain-English overview, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk to a workplace relations advisor or check with the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Which award applies?
The most common awards in field service:
- Cleaning Services Award — covers commercial, industrial, and residential cleaning.
- Gardening and Landscaping Services Award — covers lawn care, garden maintenance, and landscaping.
- Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award — covers electrical contracting.
- Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award — covers plumbing contracting.
- Building and Construction General On-site Award — covers many landscaping and outdoor construction roles.
Some businesses also rely on the Miscellaneous Award as a fallback if no industry-specific award applies. Always check coverage clauses — getting it wrong creates underpayment liability.
Minimum wage rates
Each award publishes minimum rates by classification (typically Levels 1-6 or Grades A-D). These rates are reviewed annually by the Fair Work Commission, usually with changes effective from 1 July. Current rates are at fairwork.gov.au.
Your loaded labour rates have to reflect at least these minimums. Paying above-award is your call, but going below is a breach.
Where penalty rates kick in
Most awards specify penalty rates for time worked outside ordinary hours. The patterns are similar across awards:
- Saturday work: typically 125-150% of ordinary rate
- Sunday work: typically 175-200%
- Public holidays: typically 200-250%
- Overtime: usually 150% for the first 2-3 hours, 200% thereafter (some awards have different thresholds)
- Evening shift: 110-130% for shifts ending after 7pm on some awards
Casual loading
Casuals typically receive a 25% loading on top of the ordinary award rate, in lieu of paid leave entitlements. A casual's headline rate looks higher but the underlying labour cost is comparable to a permanent equivalent.
Allowances
Awards often include allowances for things like:
- Tools (cleaning, plumbing, electrical)
- Vehicle use (where the employee uses their own vehicle)
- Meal allowances on overtime
- First aid, leading hand, height work
These get missed easily. Check your award's allowance schedule and bake the ones you owe into your loaded labour cost calculation.
Apprentices and trainees
Apprentice rates are typically a percentage of the qualified tradesperson's rate, scaling up across years (e.g. 55% Year 1, 75% Year 2, etc.). They are still entitled to penalty rates and most allowances. Productivity-wise, a first-year apprentice is rarely 55% productive — they're closer to 30-40%. Factor that into your crew composition for quotes.
What to set up
At minimum, for each employee or role you should know:
- The applicable award and classification level
- The base hourly rate (and whether you pay above-award)
- Penalty rate multipliers for after-hours, weekends, public holidays
- Casual loading if applicable
- Any standing allowances
- Superannuation, leave loading, WorkCover (the “loaded” bit)
Bizzie stores all of these per employee and applies the right rates based on when work was actually performed — penalty rates flow through to per-job costs automatically.
Always verify current rates and award coverage against the Fair Work Ombudsman's tools, or get advice from a workplace relations professional.