Table of content
- What is the Clerks Private Sector Award?
- What are the Clerks Award rates for 2026/27?
- What is the casual Clerks Award rate?
- What are the Clerks Award overtime rates?
- What are the Clerks Award penalty rates?
- How are Clerks Award shift work rates calculated?
- What Clerks Award allowances should employers watch?
- Why does Clerks Award classification cause payroll errors?
- How can businesses automate Clerks Award payroll?
- Clerks Award 2026/27 FAQs
- Read more
Clerks Award 2026/27: Complete Pay Guide (MA000002)
The Clerks Award rates for 2026/27 start from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. The current adult rate starts at $26.97 per hour for Level 1 Year 1 and rises to $37.24 per hour for a call centre technical associate.
But Clerks Award payroll involves more than choosing a level and entering the hourly rate.
Years of service, overtime, Saturday and Sunday work, public holidays, shift work and allowances can all affect what an employee must be paid.
What is the Clerks Private Sector Award?
The Clerks—Private Sector Award 2020 (MA000002) sets minimum employment conditions for employees principally performing clerical and administrative work in Australia’s private sector.
Typical work can include administration, reception, document processing, accounts, records, billing, payroll and other clerical duties.
The important point for employers is that coverage depends on the work being performed, rather than simply an employee’s job title.
What are the Clerks Award rates for 2026/27?
The current adult minimum rates are:
| Classification | Weekly rate | Hourly rate |
| Level 1 – Year 1 | $1,024.70 | $26.97 |
| Level 1 – Year 2 | $1,073.10 | $28.24 |
| Level 1 – Year 3 | $1,106.20 | $29.11 |
| Level 2 – Year 1 | $1,119.10 | $29.45 |
| Level 2 – Year 2 | $1,139.90 | $30.00 |
| Level 3 | $1,182.10 | $31.11 |
| Call centre principal customer contact specialist | $1,190.40 | $31.33 |
| Level 4 | $1,241.40 | $32.67 |
| Level 5 | $1,291.80 | $33.99 |
| Call centre technical associate | $1,415.10 | $37.24 |
And junior rates are:
| Age | % of minimum rate |
| Under 16 years of age | 45 |
| 16 years of age | 50 |
| 17 years of age | 60 |
| 18 years of age | 70 |
| 19 years of age | 80 |
| 20 years of age | 90 |
For other specific rates, please refer to Fair Work’s pay guide here.
Levels 1 and 2 contain progression by year, so employers should not assume that an employee remains on the entry rate indefinitely.
What is the casual Clerks Award rate?
Casual employees receive the applicable casual loading on the ordinary rate.
For example:
Level 1 Year 1: $33.71/hour
Level 2 Year 1: $36.81/hour
Level 3: $38.89/hour
Level 5: $42.49/hour
The casual rate is therefore materially different from the permanent hourly rate and must be used correctly throughout the payroll calculation.
What are the Clerks Award overtime rates?
For employees other than shiftworkers, overtime is:
| Overtime | Full time/ Part Time | Casual |
| Monday–Saturday, first 2 hours | 150% | 175% |
| Monday–Saturday, after 2 hours | 200% | 225% |
| Sunday | 200% | 225% |
| Public holiday | 250% | 275% |
These rates are calculated daily under the award.
The award also provides specific minimum payments, including three hours at overtime rates for Saturday overtime where 38 hours or more have already been worked from Monday to Friday, and at least four hours’ pay where an employee is required to work overtime on Sunday.
What are the Clerks Award penalty rates?
Penalty rates apply to ordinary hours worked at particular times.
For non-shiftworkers:
| Ordinary work | Rate |
| Saturday | 125% |
| Sunday | 200% |
| Public holiday | 250% |
Sunday and public holiday work also have minimum-payment provisions under the award.
For example, a Level 3 employee with an ordinary rate of $31.11 receives:
Saturday: about $38.89/hour
Sunday: $62.22/hour
Public holiday: $77.78/hour
These are calculations from the award percentages and should not be treated as a replacement for the official pay schedule.
How are Clerks Award shift work rates calculated?
Shiftworkers have a separate set of rates.
For full-time and part-time adult shiftworkers:
| Shift | Rate |
| Afternoon/night | 115% |
| Permanent night | 130% |
| Saturday, Sunday or public holiday | 150% |
The current Schedule B provides the corresponding dollar rates by classification.
Shift overtime is also separate from the standard overtime, which is why the payroll system needs to know whether an employee is classified as a shiftworker before applying the calculation.
Overtime rates for shiftwork
|
For all time worked: |
Overtime rate
Full-time and part-time employees |
Overtime rate
Casual employees |
|
% of minimum hourly rate |
% of minimum hourly rate |
|
| In excess of the ordinary weekly hours | ||
| first 3 hours | 150 | 175 |
| after 3 hours | 200 | 225 |
| In excess of ordinary daily hours on an ordinary shift | ||
| first 2 hours | 150 | 175 |
| after 2 hours | 200 | 225 |
| Saturday, Sunday or public holiday that is not an ordinary working day | 200 | 225 |
What Clerks Award allowances should employers watch?
The Clerks Award contains several monetary allowances
| Allowance | Current amount |
| First aid allowance | $16.79/week |
| Laundry – full-time | $3.64/week |
| Laundry – part-time/casual | $0.73/shift |
| Meal allowance – initial | $20.75 |
| Further meal allowance | $16.62 |
| Motor vehicle allowance | $1.00/km |
| Motorcycle allowance | $0.34/km |
The first aid allowance is based on the award’s standard rate, while expense-related allowances are dealt with under the relevant clauses and may be adjusted separately.
For example, the meal allowance applies where an employee is required to work more than 1.5 hours of overtime after ordinary finishing time without at least 24 hours’ notice.
Why does Clerks Award classification cause payroll errors?
The Clerks Award does not use one universal clerical rate.
An employer has to determine the correct classification and, for some classifications, the employee’s progression by year. The system must then apply the correct ordinary rate before calculating overtime, penalties or allowances.
That means a payroll process based only on the employee’s job title can produce the wrong result.
How can businesses automate Clerks Award payroll?
The most reliable approach is to let payroll use approved attendance and timesheet data as its calculation input.
A practical workflow is:
Classification → Roster → Attendance → Award rules → Timesheet approval → Payroll
Workstem connects these stages so overtime, penalty rates, allowances and leave calculations can flow into payroll rather than being manually recalculated in spreadsheets. Also supports award updates via Fair Work’s API and daily/weekly/fortnightly compliance checks.
See Workstem’s award interpretation software.
Clerks Award 2026/27 FAQs
Q1: What is the minimum Clerks Award rate in 2026?
A1: The lowest adult rate is $26.97 per hour for Level 1 Year 1 from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
Q2: What is the Clerks Award casual rate?
A2: Level 1 Year 1 casual pay is $33.71 per hour.
Q3: What is the Clerks Award overtime rate?
A3: For permanent employees, overtime is 150% for the first two hours and 200% afterwards Monday to Saturday, 200% on Sunday and 250% on public holidays. Casual overtime rates are higher under the award.
Q4: What is the Saturday Clerks Award penalty?
A4: Ordinary Saturday hours are paid at 125% of the minimum hourly rate.
Q5: What is the Sunday Clerks Award penalty?
A5: Ordinary Sunday hours are paid at 200%, subject to the award’s conditions and minimum-payment rules.
Q6: Where should employers check the latest Clerks Award pay rates?
A6: Use the current Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide and the consolidated Fair Work award. The current MA000002 version incorporates changes effective from 1 July 2026.
Still calculating Clerks Award overtime and penalties manually? See how Workstem connects attendance, award interpretation and payroll in one workflow.
