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INProfessional Employees Award Pay Calculator
Work out what a week under the Professional Employees Award actually pays — the right classification level, the annual salary converted to weekly and hourly, early-morning and night penalties, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.
How the Professional Employees Award is applied
- Minimum pay is an annual salary per classification level (clause 14.1), current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026 — the calculator converts it to weekly (÷ 52) and hourly (÷ 52 ÷ 38) for rostering and costing.
- Casuals get a 25% loading on top of the derived hourly rate, and it carries through into the penalty and overtime figures shown here.
- Early-morning and night hours (before 6am or after 10pm, Monday to Saturday) attract a 125% penalty (150% casual) instead of the ordinary rate — easy to miss when professional staff log in early or work back late.
- Overtime beyond 38 ordinary weekly hours is paid at the plain minimum hourly rate — in addition to the annual salary, not at a 150%/200% premium as many other awards use.
- Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including the salary and any penalty payments — but not to overtime.
- The trap: clause 18.6 switches off overtime, penalty rates and record-keeping entirely for anyone on a contractual annual salary 25% or more above the level’s award minimum — common for senior engineers and scientists, and worth checking before assuming penalties apply.
Who the award covers
- Professional engineers, professional scientists and professional IT employees
- Quality auditors (including senior and lead quality auditors)
- Medical research employees, from graduate through to senior researcher
- Employees in engineering, scientific, IT, quality or medical-research roles across any industry
- Labour hire staff placed into professional engineering, scientific, IT or medical research work
Employees in wholly or principally managerial positions aren’t covered by this award. Architects and surveyors have their own occupational awards, and professionals covered by an enterprise agreement or another modern award should be checked against that instrument first.
Which level is your team member?
The Professional Employees Award uses a five-level ladder with Level 1 split into five sub-points by degree length and experience. Classify by the professional judgment and independence the role actually requires — engineering, science, IT, quality auditing and medical research all share the same structure, with medical research alone reaching Level 5.
| Level | Per hour | Per week (38h) | Typical roles | The test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1.1 (3-year degree) | $33.71 | $1285.10 | Graduate engineer · Graduate scientist · Graduate IT professional | The entry point for a graduate with a 3-year degree, undertaking initial professional tasks of limited scope under supervision. |
| Level 1.1 (4 or 5-year degree) | $34.57 | $1318.04 | Graduate engineer · Graduate scientist · Graduate IT professional (longer degree) | Same entry-level duties as the 3-year stream, but the higher rate for a 4- or 5-year qualification. |
| Level 1.2 | $35.15 | $1340.15 | Graduate professional, second pay point | Progression within Level 1 as the graduate takes on normal professional work with individual judgment, still reviewed by more senior professionals. |
| Level 1.3 | $36.62 | $1395.96 | Graduate professional, third pay point | Further progression within Level 1 — more advanced techniques applied with increasing judgment, still under broad supervision. |
| Level 1.4 | $38.47 | $1466.67 | Graduate professional, fourth pay point | The top of Level 1 — developing the professional judgment needed to progress to Level 2. |
| Level 2 | $39.77 | $1516.08 | Experienced professional · Quality auditor · Experienced medical research employee | Significant experience, exercising independent professional judgment on assignments of broader scope with increasing autonomy. |
| Level 3 | $43.46 | $1656.87 | Senior professional · Senior lead quality auditor · Experienced medical research employee | Wide experience, exercising advanced skills and working independently on difficult and responsible assignments. The award’s typical senior-professional level. |
| Level 4 | $49.02 | $1868.71 | Highly experienced professional · Experienced medical research employee | Highly experienced, with sustained high-level professional skills and mature, independent judgment. |
| Level 5 | $59.05 | $2251.23 | Senior medical research employee | The award’s highest level — nationally or internationally recognised contribution to medical research. This level applies only to the medical research stream. |
- Level 1 is the graduate entry point — its five sub-points (1.1 three-year, 1.1 four/five-year, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4) track degree length and growing independence, not job title.
- The jump to Level 2 is about autonomy: exercising independent professional judgment on assignments of broader scope, not just following prescribed methods.
- Level 3 is the award’s working definition of "senior professional" — wide experience, advanced skills, working independently on difficult and responsible assignments.
- Level 5 is reserved for the medical research stream only — there is no Level 5 for engineering, scientific, IT or quality-auditing professionals.
Allowances that can apply on top
Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Professional Employees 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.
Calculate a week under the Professional Employees 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, MA000065) — first full pay period on or after that date.
This week’s numbers
Nothing is stored or sent — the maths runs on this page.
Why does a salary award show hourly rates?
The award sets annual salaries by classification level (clause 14.1), not a weekly wage — so the calculator divides by 52 for a weekly figure and by 38 again for an hourly one. Those match the award’s own published hourly equivalents to the cent, so they’re a reliable planning figure, not just an approximation.
Does this award have real penalty rates?
Yes — unlike some professional awards, clause 18.4 sets genuine early-morning/night and Sunday/public-holiday penalties, paid instead of the ordinary rate. They only stop applying if the clause 18.6 salary exemption (below) is in play.
What is the 125% salary exemption?
Clause 18.6: if an employee’s contractual annual salary is 25% or more above the award minimum for their level, overtime, time off instead of overtime, penalty rates and the related record-keeping obligations all stop applying. It’s common for senior professionals to sit above this threshold — check the salary against the level minimum before assuming any penalty applies.
Does super apply to the penalty payments?
Yes — early-morning, night, Sunday and public-holiday penalties on ordinary hours are ordinary-time earnings, so the 12% super guarantee applies. Overtime paid under clause 18.2 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.
