What is the Restaurant Industry Award and how does it apply to working holiday makers?

Working holiday makers in restaurants and cafes are often paid against the wrong award, or against no award at all. Identifying the correct award is the first step in checking whether you are being paid correctly.

What does the Restaurant Industry Award cover?

The award covers employers and employees in:

• Stand-alone restaurants (not connected to a hotel)
• Cafes, coffee shops, and brunch venues
• Tea rooms
• Catering businesses
• Reception centres and function venues (not connected to a hotel)
• Take-away food businesses (in some cases)

The award does not cover:

• Restaurants inside hotels (covered by the Hospitality Award)
• Fast food outlets (covered by the Fast Food Industry Award)
• Mobile food vans
• Workplaces covered by an enterprise agreement that overrides the award

If you are uncertain which award applies, see our article on award classifications for the detailed test.

What classifications apply?

The Restaurant Industry Award has six main grades:

• Introductory: first three months with no relevant experience
• Level 1 (Food and Beverage Attendant Grade 1): setting tables, clearing tables, picking up glasses
• Level 2 (Food and Beverage Attendant Grade 2): pouring drinks, taking orders, serving food, basic cooking
• Level 3 (Food and Beverage Supervisor / Cook Grade 1): supervising small sections, basic cooking
• Level 4 (Cook Grade 2): cooking with a wider range of techniques
• Level 5 and 6: chef de partie, head chef, restaurant manager

Most working holiday makers in front-of-house roles fall into Level 1 or Level 2. Baristas with experience typically sit at Level 2 or Level 3.

What are the minimum pay rates?

Pay rates are set in the award and updated every 1 July. The structure includes:

• Base hourly rate by classification
• Casual loading of 25% on top for casual employees
• Penalty rates for weekends, evenings, and public holidays
• Allowances for specific working conditions

A casual Level 2 worker receives the Level 2 base rate plus the 25% casual loading as their standard hourly rate. Any work outside ordinary hours attracts additional penalty rates on top.

What penalty rates apply?

The Restaurant Industry Award penalty rates for casual employees include:

• Monday to Friday, 7pm to midnight: typically a small evening loading
• Saturday: usually 50% loading (which includes the 25% casual loading rolled in, in some classifications)
• Sunday: usually 75% loading
• Public holidays: usually 150% loading
• Midnight to 7am: higher overnight loading

The exact percentages and start times are set in the current version of the award. Penalty rates in restaurants are slightly different from those in hotels, and the difference can be significant on a Sunday or public holiday shift.

How is the Restaurant Industry Award different from the Hospitality Award?

The two awards cover overlapping types of work in different venue settings:

• A waiter in a hotel restaurant is covered by the Hospitality Award
• A waiter in a stand-alone restaurant next door is covered by the Restaurant Industry Award

The minimum pay rates, penalty rates, classification descriptions, and allowances are different between the two awards. The same job can be paid differently depending on the type of venue. Employers sometimes apply the wrong award to save money, and the difference adds up over a year of work.

What allowances apply?

The award includes allowances for:

• Meal allowance: if working overtime without a break
• Clothing or uniform allowance: if the employer requires a uniform but does not provide one
• Laundry allowance: for washing employer-required uniforms
• First aid allowance: for designated first aid officers
• Tools and equipment: if you are required to provide your own (knives, for example)

How does this affect your tax position?

If you have been paid against the wrong award, or below the correct award rate, the wages you should have received are higher than the wages reported to the ATO. Recovering the underpayment increases:

• The taxable income on your tax return
• The super contributions the employer should have paid
• Your eventual DASP when you leave Australia

When we lodge through our tax agent portal, we review your payslips against the Restaurant Industry Award rates for your classification.

How does our service support restaurant and cafe workers?

For working holiday makers in restaurants and cafes, our team:

• Identifies the correct award (Restaurant, Hospitality, or Fast Food)
• Cross-checks payslips against the correct award classification and rate
• Identifies underpaid wages, missing penalty rates, and missing allowances
• Reconciles ATO-reported income against what should have been paid
• Pursues unpaid super on the correct wages
• Lodges the tax return using the correct income figures

Misapplied awards are one of the most consistent patterns of underpayment in hospitality. Get in touch with our team to check whether you are being paid against the right award.