‹ Australian Award CalculatorsFREE CALCULATOR · MA000099

Labour Market Assistance Award Pay Calculator

Work out what a week under the Labour Market Assistance Award actually pays — the right classification stream, evening and weekend penalties, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.

How the Labour Market Assistance Award is applied

Minimum rates are set per classification and pay point from clause 16.1, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
Casuals get a 25% loading, and the penalty percentages below include it — confirmed against the FWO’s official pay guide across every stream and pay point.
Ordinary hours sit inside a 6am–8pm span, Monday to Friday — ordinary hours rostered outside it attract the spread penalties (120% late evening, 135% overnight, 175% Saturday, 200% Sunday), and staff must get 2 consecutive days off in every 7.
Overtime applies beyond 38 weekly hours, more than 10 in a day, or outside the span when not rostered as penalty hours: 150% for the first 2 hours, then 200% (casuals: 187.5% / 250%) — Sunday overtime is 200% (250% casual) from the first hour.
Anyone recalled to work after leaving the premises is owed a minimum 4 hours at the applicable overtime rate — the trap providers running after-hours client emergencies most often miss.
Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including penalty rates — but not to overtime.

Who the award covers

Employment services providers delivering government-contracted programs such as Workforce Australia
Job placement, job-search and career transition services in the welfare sector
Vocational training and personal support services helping people into work
Disability employment services (other than supported employment services)
On-hire staff placed into labour market assistance businesses
Group training organisations, for trainees engaged in the industry

Supported employment services (disability enterprises) have their own award, community and disability services work sits under the SCHADS Award, and office staff outside the industry fall to the Clerks Award — check before you classify.

Which level is your team member?

The Labour Market Assistance Award runs seven classification streams rather than one ladder: two administrative, two employment services officer grades, a co-ordinator level and two manager grades. Classify by what the person actually does — direct client work belongs in the employment services stream even if the job title says otherwise — then place them at the right pay point within the stream.

Level	Per hour	Per week (38h)	Typical roles	The test
Administrative assistant	$28.64	$1088.50	Receptionist · Data entry · Junior admin	Clearly defined administrative and clerical duties under direct supervision — limited discretion, no supervision of others. Certificate III holders start at pay point 4.
Employment services officer grade 1	$32.02	$1216.80	Trainer (single vocational area) · Placement support officer	Delivers training or placement support in one vocational area, assisting with client assessment and employer liaison under supervision.
Administrative officer	$32.98	$1253.30	Office manager · Bookkeeper · Senior administrator	Responsible for administration from simple to complex — finance, accounting, office management — and supervises other administrative staff.
Employment services officer grade 2	$34.45	$1309.10	Employment consultant · Case manager · Trainer	The multi-functioned frontline role: client assessment, individual service programs, training delivery and placement, exercising professional judgment within policy. The typical hire.
Employment services co-ordinator	$38.21	$1451.80	Site co-ordinator · Program co-ordinator · Team leader	Assists the manager of a larger service, co-ordinating programs and leading staff — reports to a Manager grade 2 or above.
Manager grade 1	$38.21	$1451.80	Site manager (small–medium service)	Manages a service or team with total weekly staffing under 285 hours. Services up to 190 staffing hours cap at pay point 4.
Manager grade 2	$43.89	$1667.80	Regional manager · Manager of multiple sites or programs	Manages a service or multiple projects with total weekly staffing above 285 hours — may supervise grade 1 managers and co-ordinators.

The calculator shows pay point 1 of each stream. Streams hold 3 to 6 pay points, and movement up them follows a year of service plus satisfactory performance — not promotion.
Employment services officer grade 2 is the industry’s workhorse classification — employment consultants and case managers who assess clients, build individual programs and place people into work.
The line between the grades is breadth: grade 1 works in a single vocational area under supervision; grade 2 is multi-functioned and exercises professional judgment within policy.
Manager grades follow the size of the service, measured in total weekly staffing hours: under 285 hours is grade 1, above it grade 2 — and a service under 190 hours caps its manager at grade 1, pay point 4.

Allowances that can apply on top

Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Labour Market Assistance 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):

First aid allowance — required to perform first aid duty with a current certificate$18.49/week

Sleepover allowance — supervising clients on overnight excursions$85.90 per night

Meal allowance — more than 2 hours’ overtime, or 5+ hours on a non-ordinary working day$20.45

Motor vehicle allowance — own vehicle used on the employer’s business$1.00/km

Annual leave loading17.5% on paid annual leave

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 Labour Market Assistance 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 Labour Market Assistance Award requires:

Meal breakNo more than 5 hours of work without an unpaid meal break of 30–60 minutes.

Rest breakA paid 10-minute rest break each morning, between starting work and the meal break.

From the award’s breaks clause (clause 15). Verify the current award text before relying on it.

Calculate a week under the Labour Market Assistance 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.

Classification levelEmployment typeState or territoryWeekday hours within the span (6am–8pm)Late evening hours (8pm–midnight, Mon–Fri)Ordinary hours worked between 8pm and midnight, Monday to FridayEarly morning hours (midnight–6am, Sun–Fri)Ordinary hours worked between midnight and 6am, Sunday to FridaySaturday hoursSunday hoursPublic holiday hoursAll hours worked on a public holiday, with the employer’s approval

Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000099) — 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 rates are the adult minimums at pay point 1 of each classification from clause 16.1, current at 1 July 2026. Higher pay points within each stream pay more, and movement up them follows service and satisfactory performance. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.

Our consultants sometimes see clients in the evening — what does that cost?

Ordinary hours rostered between 8pm and midnight on a weeknight are paid at 120% of the minimum rate, and midnight to 6am at 135%. If the hours aren’t rostered ordinary hours, they’re overtime instead — 150% for the first 2 hours, then 200%.

Is an employment consultant an Administrative officer or an ESO?

Direct client work makes them an employment services officer — usually grade 2 if they assess clients, build individual programs and handle placements across functions. The administrative streams are for office management and clerical work, even where the pay overlaps.

Does super apply to penalty rates?

Yes — evening, weekend and public-holiday penalties on ordinary hours are ordinary-time earnings, so the 12% super guarantee applies. True overtime is excluded. The calculator applies exactly that split.

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.