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INHorticulture Award Pay Calculator
Work out what a week under the Horticulture Award actually pays — the right level, casual loading, overtime and super, calculated the way the award says (and without inventing weekend penalties it doesn’t have).
How the Horticulture Award is applied
- Minimum rates are set per level — the calculator uses the adult rates from clause 15.1(a), current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. Level 2 is the award’s “standard rate” anchor.
- Casuals get a 25% loading, can work ordinary hours any day of the week between 5am and 8.30pm — and, distinctively, no weekend penalty applies to those ordinary hours: a casual Saturday costs the same 125% as a casual Tuesday.
- Casual hours between 8.31pm and 4.59am add a 15% night loading on top of the casual loading (140% all-in).
- Overtime for full-time and part-time staff is anything outside their ordinary hours: a flat 150% Monday–Saturday and 200% on Sunday. Casuals only hit overtime past 12 hours in a day or engagement (or 304 ordinary hours over 8 weeks) — then a flat 175%, loading included.
- Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including the casual and night loadings — but not to overtime.
- Piece rates are a separate pay mode with their own rules: the rate must let a competent pieceworker earn at least 15% above their hourly rate, a written piecework record is required before the task starts, every day carries a floor of hourly rate × hours worked, and public holidays pay 200% of the piece rate.
Who the award covers
- Sowing, planting, raising and cultivating horticultural crops — orchards, market gardens, vegetable and berry farms
- Harvesting, picking, thinning and pruning
- Washing, packing, storing, grading, forwarding or treating crops for a horticultural enterprise
- Preparing land — clearing, fencing, trenching and draining
- Labour hire staff placed into horticulture businesses
Plant nurseries have their own award (the Nursery Award), and the wine industry, silviculture, sugar and cotton growing are excluded too — check before you classify.
Which level is your team member?
The Horticulture Award has one classification ladder with five levels, and each level is explicitly cumulative — the test at every rung is whether the person works “above and beyond” the level below, to the level of their training. Most farm teams sit at Levels 1–3; Levels 4 and 5 are for genuine coordination, licensed plant and trade-qualified work.
| Level | Per hour | Per week (38h) | Typical roles | The test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | $25.74 | $978.10 | Fruit and vegetable picker · General labourer · Sorter/packer (basic) · Small towing tractor operator (harvest) | The entry level: routine manual work under direct supervision — picking, thinning, pruning, basic sorting and grading. Progresses to Level 2 after no more than 3 months’ industry experience. |
| Level 2 | $26.44 | $1004.90 | Packing-line or picking-equipment operator · Tractor driver (up to 70kW) · Irrigation/spray/pruning hand (supervised) | Three months’ industry experience, working established routines under general supervision — machines, repetition work, simple records. The award’s “standard rate”. |
| Level 3 | $26.84 | $1020.10 | Forklift, lorry or mechanical harvester driver · Tractor driver (over 70kW) · Unsupervised irrigation/spray/pruning hand | Works above and beyond Level 2 under routine supervision: driving harvesters, lorries and forklifts, minor plant maintenance, helping train and coordinate others. |
| Level 4 | $27.81 | $1056.90 | Licensed forklift/crane operator · Machine setter · Store and inventory controller · Quality checker | Coordinates work in a team: machine setting, licensed materials handling, inventory control, WHS monitoring, quality checks on the work of others. |
| Level 5 | $29.45 | $1119.10 | Trade-qualified employee · Team coordinator/scheduler · Maintenance operator · On-the-job trainer | The top level: works with minimal supervision, holds and uses a trade qualification, schedules the team’s work and provides on-the-job training. |
- Level 1 has a clock on it: after no more than 3 months’ industry experience the employee must move to Level 2 — leaving a seasoned picker on Level 1 is the award’s most common underpayment.
- Machinery moves people up: tractors up to 70kW sit at Level 2; over 70kW — plus lorries, forklifts and mechanical harvesters — is Level 3; licensed or certified equipment is Level 4.
- Supervision is graded too: working supervised is Levels 1–2, unsupervised spraying/irrigating/pruning is Level 3, coordinating a team is Level 4, scheduling the team’s work is Level 5.
- A trade qualification used in the job means Level 5 — the ladder’s only qualification-based rung.
Allowances that can apply on top
Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Horticulture Award adds allowances for particular duties and situations — being the designated first aid officer, working overtime without notice, using your own car. They’re small lines individually, but they’re legal entitlements and they add up. The common ones (1 July 2026 amounts):
The calculator below doesn’t include allowances — add the ones that apply to your team on top of the result. The full list lives in the award’s allowances clause.
Break entitlements under the Horticulture Award
Breaks are part of the award too — and missed or worked-through breaks usually carry a penalty rate, so they belong in the roster, not just the tea room. Here’s what the Horticulture Award requires:
From the award’s breaks clause (clause 14). Verify the current award text before relying on it.
Calculate a week under the Horticulture Award
Enter the week as it’s actually rostered. Weekend, evening and public-holiday hours are paid at the award’s penalty rates; anything beyond 38 hours is priced as overtime; super is applied to ordinary-time earnings only.
Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000028) — first full pay period on or after that date.
This week’s numbers
Nothing is stored or sent — the maths runs on this page.
Are these the exact legal rates?
The level minimums are the adult rates from clause 15.1(a), current at 1 July 2026 — the award publishes both the weekly and hourly figures directly. Juniors are a percentage of these, and pieceworkers are paid under their own clause. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.
Do I owe weekend penalty rates?
Not on ordinary hours — this award doesn’t have them. A casual’s Saturday or Sunday ordinary hours are plain 125%. Weekends only cost more when they’re overtime for permanent staff: 150% on Saturday, 200% on Sunday (with a harvest-period concession letting up to 5 Sunday hours run at 150% within the first 8 weekly overtime hours).
How do piece rates fit in?
As a parallel pay mode, not a classification. A piece rate must be set so a competent pieceworker earns at least 15% more per hour than their minimum hourly rate, the worker must get a written piecework record before starting, and each day still carries a floor of hourly rate × hours worked. Pieceworkers sit outside the ordinary-hours, overtime and meal-allowance clauses.
When does a casual hit overtime?
Later than you might think: only past 12 hours in a single day or engagement, or past 304 ordinary hours over an 8-week period. Overtime then pays a flat 175% (loading included), and every hour a casual works on a public holiday — ordinary or overtime — pays 225%.
This is a general calculator, not legal advice. It applies the award’s published adult minimums to the hours you enter — it can’t see your enterprise agreement, allowances or individual arrangements, and junior, apprentice and shiftwork rates differ. Always confirm pay against the award, your agreement or your adviser. If you believe something here is materially wrong or out of date, please contact us — we’ll review it promptly.
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Tommy applies the right award rates to every shift as you roster — penalties, loading and super included. Start with your email and your numbers come along.
