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INMeat Industry Award Pay Calculator
Work out what a week under the Meat Industry Award actually pays — the right MI level, weekend and shift penalties, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.
How the Meat Industry Award is applied
- Minimum rates are set per MI level — the calculator uses the adult rates from clause 16.1, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
- Casuals get a 25% loading on ordinary weekday hours — but on weekends they receive the penalty rate instead of the loading, and the loading is never paid on overtime.
- Weekend penalties depend on your establishment type: the calculator uses meat processing rates (150% Saturday, 200% Sunday). Retail butchers pay 125% (Saturday 4am–6pm) and 150% (Sunday 8am–6pm); manufacturing pays 125% for up to 4 Saturday hours.
- Public holidays: Christmas Day and Anzac Day pay 200% all day for both permanents and casuals — the award’s ceiling. Other public holidays start lower for the first couple of hours before stepping up to 200%.
- Overtime is 150% for the first 3 hours, then 200% — and Sunday overtime in a processing plant is 200% with a 4-hour minimum.
- Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including penalty rates — but not to overtime.
Who the award covers
- Meat processing establishments — killing, dressing, boning, slicing, preparing and packing fresh meat
- Meat manufacturing establishments — smallgoods, ham, bacon and other processed meat products
- Meat retail establishments — butcher shops and wholesale meat sales
- By-product handling — skins, hides and rendering — plus related cold storage and distribution
- Cleaners, clerical staff and laboratory employees working in meat establishments
- Labour hire staff placed into meat industry businesses
Supermarket meat departments generally sit under the Retail Award, poultry has its own Poultry Processing Award, managers at foreman level and above are excluded, and maintenance trades belong to the Manufacturing Award — check before you classify.
Which level is your team member?
The Meat Industry Award has one ladder of eight levels, MI 1 to MI 8, shared across the retail, processing and manufacturing streams — Schedule A lists the indicative tasks for each stream at each level. Classify by the skills, qualifications and duties the person is required to exercise overall, not the task they happen to be doing at a given moment.
| Level | Per hour | Per week (38h) | Typical roles | The test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MI 1 | $25.74 | $978.10 | New starter with no industry experience | On-the-job training under direct supervision. A training level only — the award caps it at 6 months before the employee must progress. |
| MI 2 | $26.44 | $1004.90 | Order/delivery person (retail) · Linker or table hand · Slaughterer’s assistant | Basic delivery tasks in retail, or low-skilled manufacturing tasks like salting, washing and smoking assistance. |
| MI 3 | $26.60 | $1010.90 | Wrapping/weighing/pricing hand · Chiller or freezer hand · Cleaner · Loading labourer | Experienced but exercising minimal judgment — the award’s broadest level: labouring around boning and slicing, packing, cleaning, stores and basic clerical work. |
| MI 4 | $27.23 | $1034.60 | Trimmer · Cashier · Smallgoods maker (non-trade) · Driver (up to 6 tonnes) | A higher level of judgment and skill than MI 3 — trimming, knife work before packing, cooking/scalding, non-licensed equipment. |
| MI 5 | $27.71 | $1052.90 | Salesperson · Slicer · Sawyer · Licensed forklift operator · Driver (over 6 tonnes) | Skilled tasks with more judgment again — may hold a Certificate II. Retail sales, slicing, power saws and licensed product-handling equipment live here. |
| MI 6 | $28.28 | $1074.50 | Boner · Carcass grader · Skin classer | Highly skilled work performed independently — boning, grading carcasses, Class 1 slaughtering tasks. |
| MI 7 | $29.45 | $1119.10 | General butcher · Trade-qualified slaughterer · Smallgoods maker (trade) | Holds and uses trade qualifications (Certificate III in Meat Processing or a retail butchering trade). The award’s “standard rate”. |
| MI 8 | $30.53 | $1160.20 | General butcher in charge of a meat retail establishment | The top level: duties above a general butcher tradesperson — typically running the shop. |
- MI 1 is strictly a training level — no industry experience, direct supervision, and a hard 6-month cap before the employee must move up.
- MI 3 is the award’s broadest level: general labouring, packing, wrapping and pricing, chiller hands, cleaners and loading crews all sit here.
- Knife skills push people up the ladder — trimming is MI 4, slicing MI 5, boning MI 6. Don’t pay a boner as a labourer.
- A trade qualification changes the floor: a general butcher or Certificate III slaughterer who uses those skills must be at least MI 7 — and MI 8 if they’re in charge of a retail shop.
Allowances that can apply on top
Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Meat Industry 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 Meat Industry 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 Meat Industry Award requires:
From the award’s breaks clause (clause 15). Verify the current award text before relying on it.
Calculate a week under the Meat Industry 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, MA000059) — 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 classification minimums are the adult rates from clause 16.1, current at 1 July 2026. Juniors are paid a percentage of these (50% under 17, up to 85% at 19), and apprentices have their own scale off the MI 7 rate. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.
Which weekend rates does the calculator use?
The meat processing establishment rates — 150% Saturday, 200% Sunday. If you run a retail butcher shop, your ordinary weekend hours are cheaper: 125% on Saturday (4am–6pm) and 150% on Sunday (8am–6pm). Manufacturing establishments pay 125% for up to 4 Saturday hours. Same award, three different weekends — classify your establishment first.
What is daily hire employment?
A category unique to meat processing establishments: the employee is engaged by the day, paid a daily rate of 20% of the weekly rate plus a 10% loading on that daily rate, and keeps NES entitlements like annual leave and public holidays. It doesn’t exist in retail or manufacturing establishments.
Does super apply to penalty rates?
Yes — weekend, shift 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.
