Penalty rates

Penalty rates are the higher rates of pay modern awards set for work at unsociable times — evenings, weekends, public holidays — and for overtime. They compensate people for giving up the hours most of life is organised around, and for shift businesses they're often the single biggest variable in labour cost.

How they work

Each award defines its own triggers and multiples: when "evening" starts, what Saturday versus Sunday pays, what a public holiday attracts. A few things hold generally:

They're award-specific. Hospitality, retail and care all draw the lines differently — never borrow another industry's numbers.
They interact with casual loading. Whether a casual's weekend rate is loading plus penalty, or a single combined rate, depends on the award's own arithmetic.
They change. Annual Wage Review increases and award variations move the dollar figures, so check the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool for current rates.

Penalty rates and the roster

Because penalties are time-based, the roster is the cost decision: moving a shift across a penalty boundary changes what it costs before anyone works a minute. Seeing those boundaries while you plan — rather than discovering them in payroll — is what keeps weekend trade profitable and pay correct.

Penalty rate clauses of the applicable modern award under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) — current rates via the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool.

Tommy makes the when of every shift clear at a glance, so penalty windows are something you plan around instead of getting surprised by.

Related terms

Put a number on it: the free true shift cost calculator shows what a shift really costs once every premium and on-cost is applied.