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Seafood Processing Award Pay Calculator

Work out what a week under the Seafood Processing Award actually pays — the right process attendant level, Saturday and Sunday penalties, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.

How the Seafood Processing Award is applied

Minimum rates are set per Process Attendant level — the calculator uses the adult rates from clause 15.1, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
The 25% casual loading is all-purpose: penalties and overtime are calculated on the loaded rate, so a casual on Saturday afternoon costs 187.5%, not 175%.
Saturday is an ordinary working day (span 6am–6pm, Monday to Saturday) — but it splits at noon: 125% before, 150% after. Sunday ordinary hours need agreement and pay 200%.
Overtime applies beyond ordinary hours at 150% for the first 3 hours, then 200%, with each day standing alone; public holiday work is 250% with a 3-hour minimum.
Shiftwork has its own matrix — afternoon/night shifts 115%, permanent night 130%, and non-successive shifts jump to 150%/200% — worth checking before you roster short shift runs.
Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including penalty rates — but not to overtime.

Who the award covers

Land-based seafood processing after harvest — scale fish, crustaceans and molluscs, wild or farmed
Preparing, cooking, filleting, gutting, shucking, smoking, freezing and canning
Packaging, labelling, palletising, cold storage and despatch of seafood products
Cleaning and sanitising of processing tools, equipment and machinery
Fish market selling and wholesale marketing of seafood
Labour hire staff placed into seafood processing businesses

Retail fishmongers sit under the Retail Award, fish and chip shops under the Fast Food Award, meat under the Meat Industry Award and poultry under the Poultry Processing Award — and oyster-farm employees are excluded entirely.

Which level is your team member?

The Seafood Processing Award keeps it simple: four Process Attendant levels, defined in clause 12 by the tasks the person is competent to perform. New hires enter at Level 1, most of the plant floor works at Level 2, and equipment tickets or supervision push people higher — classify by demonstrated skills, not job titles.

Level	Per hour	Per week (38h)	Typical roles	The test
Process Attendant Level 1	$25.74	$978.10	New starter — sorting, grading, trimming, washing, packaging	The point of entry: training for any task under direct supervision. The award caps this level at 6 months — then the employee must move up.
Process Attendant Level 2	$26.44	$1004.90	Filleter · Grader · Cold store operator · Can closure machine operator	Runs the core of the plant: filleting, weighing, cleaning, precise grading, crumbing and cooking, chilling, cartons, bulk packing, single-function equipment and records.
Process Attendant Level 3	$28.09	$1067.40	Specialist filleter (by hand) · Forklift operator (to 4,500 kg) · Retort operator	All Level 2 tasks plus refrigeration and steam-raising equipment, forklift work, setting a retort to a scheduled process and can-closure set-up.
Process Attendant Level 4	$29.45	$1119.10	Supervisor · Senior specialist	Entry from Level 3 with higher supervisory or specialist skills. The award’s top level.

Level 1 is a genuine entry level — sorting, grading, trimming, washing and packaging under direct supervision — and nobody may stay there longer than 6 months.
Level 2 carries the bulk of processing work: filleting, grading, cooking, chilling, packing and cold store operations all sit here.
Equipment moves people up: refrigeration plant, steam raising, a forklift to 4,500 kg, retort operation or specialist hand filleting make someone Level 3.
Level 4 is for supervisory or specialist skills beyond Level 3 — if they’re running people rather than just machines, look here.

Allowances that can apply on top

Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Seafood Processing 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 — trained, qualified and appointed$22.26/week

Cold places allowance — more than an hour below 0°C (artificially reduced)$0.82/hour, plus a paid 20-minute rest after each 2 hours

Meal allowance — overtime long enough to earn a rest break, without a day’s notice$19.14 per meal

Damage to clothing, spectacles or hearing aids — employer negligenceReplacement, repair or cleaning

Protective clothing and equipment — required by law and not suppliedReimbursed at cost

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 Seafood Processing 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 Seafood Processing Award requires:

Meal breakNo more than 5 hours of work without an unpaid meal break — extendable to 6 hours by agreement or where canteen breaks are staggered.

Working through a meal breakPaid at 150% of the minimum hourly rate for all work during the break, and until a break is taken.

Rest breaksTwo paid 10-minute rest breaks each day or shift, counted as time worked — timing set by the employer.

From the award’s breaks clause (clause 14). Verify the current award text before relying on it.

Calculate a week under the Seafood Processing 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 (Mon–Fri, 6am–6pm)Saturday morning hours (before noon)Saturday is an ordinary working day under this award — the penalty splits at noon. Casual rates multiply the loaded rateSaturday afternoon hours (after noon)Sunday hours (by agreement)Sunday can only be an ordinary working day by agreement with your employees — otherwise it’s overtime at the same 200%Public holiday hoursMinimum 3 hours’ pay for public holiday work

Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000068) — 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 15.1, current at 1 July 2026. Juniors are paid a percentage of these (55% under 17, rising to 90% at 20), and shiftworkers have a separate penalty table. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.

Why does Saturday split at noon?

The award treats Monday to Saturday, 6am–6pm as ordinary hours — but prices Saturday in two halves: 125% before noon, 150% after. A crew that runs 8am–4pm on Saturday needs both rates in the same shift. The calculator’s two Saturday buckets handle exactly that.

How does the casual loading work here?

It’s all-purpose — the 25% loading becomes part of the casual’s rate for every calculation. Penalties and overtime multiply the loaded rate, so casual Sunday work is 250% of the base rate (200% × 1.25), not 225%. Several awards do it the cheaper additive way; this one doesn’t.

Can someone stay on Level 1 long-term?

No — the award caps Level 1 at 6 months. By then the employee has been training across sorting, grading, trimming, washing and packaging, and must progress to Level 2. Budget for the higher rate from month seven at the latest.

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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