Cleaning Services Award Rates 2026/27: Pay, Penalties, Allowances & Overtime

The Cleaning Services Award 2020 (MA000022) sets minimum pay rates and employment conditions for employees in the contract cleaning services industry across Australia. Fair Work says the award covers contract cleaning businesses and their employees, including event cleaning, hygiene and pollution control, trolley collection, and minor property maintenance incidental to cleaning. It also covers labour hire employees placed into contract cleaning roles.

For employers, cleaning payroll is not just a base-rate problem. The real risk comes from broken shifts, minimum shift lengths, travel between workplaces, special-condition allowances, penalty rates and overtime. Miss one of those and the pay run is wrong.

What is the Cleaning Services Award (MA000022)?

The award covers employers in the contract cleaning services industry and employees who fit within the award’s classifications. Fair Work specifically lists office cleaners employed by a contract cleaning business, shopping centre cleaners, house and apartment cleaners employed by a contract cleaning business, specialist cleaning businesses, and trolley collectors working for a contract trolley business.

The award also applies to on-hire employees working in the contract cleaning services industry and trainees hosted into that work. It does not replace the need to check whether the employee is actually covered by the award’s classifications.

Who is not covered by the Cleaning Services Award?

The Cleaning Services Award does not apply in the following situations:

• Cleaning performed as part of another primary industry, such as:
  • • hospitality staff cleaning within a restaurant
    • retail employees cleaning their own store
• Employees covered by other awards, including:
  • Hospitality Award
  • General Retail Award
  • Healthcare or Aged Care Awards
• Workers employed directly by businesses where cleaning is incidental, not contracted
• Specific excluded roles:
  • trolley collectors employed directly by retailers
  • car washers and vehicle detailers
  • laundry and dry-cleaning workers
  • cleaners working on civil construction sites
• Employees covered by an enterprise agreement

What are the Cleaning Services Award pay rates in 2026/27?

The award’s minimum weekly and hourly rates for adult employees are set out in Schedule B. As at the current 1 July 2025 adjustment, the base adult rates are:

Full Time 

Part Time 

Casual

Referenced from Cleaning Services Award Pay Guide

How are Cleaning Services Award classifications set?

Under the award, employees must be classified based on actual duties performed instead of job title.

Level 1 – Entry-level cleaners

• Perform routine cleaning duties
• Work under supervision or direction
• Responsible for the quality of their own work

Level 2 – Experienced cleaners

• Perform more complex cleaning tasks
• Use specialised equipment (e.g. carpet cleaning machines)
• Follow detailed instructions or procedures
• May assist in training Level 1 employees
• May perform limited supervisory duties

Level 3 – Supervisory roles

• Coordinate or supervise cleaning teams
• Allocate work across sites or teams
• May act as site supervisor or building manager
• Responsible for overall work outcomes

What are the penalty rates under the Cleaning Services Award?

For full-time and part-time adult employees, the award penalty are:

• Monday to Friday ordinary day work: 100%
• Early morning, afternoon and non-permanent night shift: 115%
• Permanent night: 130%
• Saturday: 150%
• Sunday: 200%
• Public holiday: 250%.

For casual adult employees, the equivalent rates are:

• Day work: 125%
• Early morning, afternoon and non-permanent night shift: 140%
• Permanent night: 155%
• Saturday: 175%
• Sunday: 225%
• Public holiday: 275%.

The practical problem is that cleaning work often happens early morning or late evening, so penalty exposure is common even when the shift looks short on paper.

When does overtime apply under the award?

The award says a full-time employee must be paid overtime for any time worked in excess of ordinary hours. For part-time and casual employees, all time worked in excess of 7.6 hours per day, five days per week, or 38 hours in any week is overtime.

The overtime rates are:

• Monday to Saturday, first 2 hours: 150% for full-time and part-time employees, 175% for casual employees
• Monday to Saturday, after 2 hours: 200% for full-time and part-time employees, 225% for casual employees
• Sunday: 200% for full-time and part-time employees, 225% for casual employees
• Public holiday: 250% for full-time and part-time employees, 275% for casual employees.

The award also says overtime worked on any day stands alone from overtime worked on any other day. That is an important rule because it stops employers from blending overtime across multiple days.

What allowances apply under the Cleaning Services Award?

The award contains several allowances that employers commonly miss.

• Broken shift
  A broken shift occurs when an employee works a rostered shift in two periods of duty within a maximum spread of 13 hours, with a break of more than one hour between the periods. The broken shift allowance is $4.50 for the day, capped at $22.49 per week.

• Cold work
  A cold work allowance applies when an employee works for more than one hour in a place below 0°C. The rate is $0.66 per hour, and once the employee continues for more than 2 hours, they are entitled to a 20-minute rest period every 2 hours without loss of pay.

• Hot work
  A hot work allowance applies when an employee works for more than one hour in a place heated by artificial means to between 46°C and 54°C, at $0.66 per hour, or above 54°C at $0.80 per hour. After 2 hours, the employee is entitled to a 20-minute rest period every 2 hours without loss of pay.

• Height allowance
  A height allowance applies to employees cleaning from a swing scaffold, boatswain’s chair or similar device on the outside of multi-storeyed buildings. The allowance is $1.06 per hour up to and including the 22nd floor, and $2.17 per hour above the 22nd floor.

• First aid
  A first aid allowance of $16.11 per week applies where the employee has current first aid qualifications and has been appointed in writing to perform first aid duty.

• Leading hand
  A leading hand allowance applies where an employee is placed in charge of other employees. The weekly allowance is $58.93 for up to 10 employees, $75.83 for 11 to 20 employees, and $92.72 for more than 20 employees.

• Refuse collection
  A refuse collection allowance of $4.48 per shift applies where the employee is employed for the major portion of a shift to collect, dispose of or sort refuse, or feed an incinerator, furnace or compactor. The toilet cleaning allowance is $3.53 per shift or $17.35 per week where the employee is employed for the major portion of a day or shift to clean toilets.

• Meal
  A meal allowance of $16.84 applies where an employee is required to work an additional 2 hours or more and was not advised on or before the previous day. The employer can instead supply a meal.

• Vehicle
  Where an employee uses their own vehicle by agreement, the vehicle allowance is $0.99 per kilometre for a motor car or $0.33 per kilometre for a motorcycle. If the employee is required to travel from one workplace to another, the employer must pay for the travel time as if they were working and must pay the associated fares.

• Uniform
  The award also requires reimbursement of the cost of a uniform if the employer requires one and does not supply or pay for it.

What are the minimum engagement rules under the Cleaning Services Award?

Minimum engagement is one of the most misunderstood rules in this award.

The minimum shift length depends on the size of the cleaning site:

• Up to 300 m² (small standalone sites):
  • Minimum 1 hour per shift
  • Only applies where combining sites is not reasonably practicable
• 300 m² – 2,000 m²: Minimum 2 consecutive hours per shift
• 2,000 m² – 5,000 m²: Minimum 3 consecutive hours per shift
• 5,000 m² and above: Minimum 4 consecutive hours per shift

What break entitlements apply under the Cleaning Services Award?

Break entitlements differ depending on whether the employee is a shiftworker or non-shiftworker, and the length of the shift.

For shiftworkers (penalty-rate shifts)

Shiftworkers have different entitlements because of non-standard hours.

Meal break:

• One paid meal break (minimum 20 minutes)
• Must be taken: between 4 to 5 hours after starting the shift

Additional rest break:

• One additional paid 10-minute rest break
• Applies to full-time shiftworkers on continuous shifts

For non-shiftworkers

Meal breaks:

• Unpaid meal break of 30 to 60 minutes
• Must be taken: after no more than 4.5 hours of work or up to 5 hours only in emergencies

Rest breaks:

• Two paid 10-minute rest breaks per day
  • One in the morning
  • One in the afternoon

Employees cannot be required to work continuously without a meal break beyond the allowed limit

Overtime 

If an employee works overtime:

• After each 4 hours of overtime worked: is entitled to a 20-minute paid meal break

If the employee is required to resume work during a break, they must be paid overtime continuously until the break is completed

Minimum rest between shifts

• Employees must have at least 8 consecutive hours off between shifts

If not provided:

• Employer must:
  • Pay overtime rates until the employee is released
  • Then provide the full 8-hour break
  • Without loss of ordinary pay

Why Cleaning Services Award compliance matters in 2026/27

Cleaning payroll is high risk because the work is fragmented. Employees move between sites, work broken shifts, handle early or late hours, and often trigger allowances that are easy to miss. The award’s structure makes it clear that the employer must manage classification, minimum engagement, overtime, penalties, breaks and allowances together, not separately.

FAQ about Cleaning Services Award

Q1: What is the Cleaning Services Award?
A1: It is the modern award that covers contract cleaning businesses and employees who fit the award classifications, including event cleaning, trolley collection, hygiene and pollution control, and incidental minor property maintenance.

Q2: What is the minimum shift length under the Cleaning Services Award?
A2: It ranges from 1 hour to 4 consecutive hours depending on the size of the cleaning area.

Q3: What is the broken shift allowance?
A3: $4.50 per day, capped at $22.49 per week, where the employee works a broken shift as defined in the award.

Q4: What is the Sunday penalty rate?
A4: For adult employees, Sunday ordinary time is 200% for full-time and part-time employees and 225% for casual employees.

Q5: Do cleaners get paid for travel between workplaces?
A5: Yes. The award says employees required to travel between workplaces must be paid for the travel time as if working, and the employer must pay the fares.

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