What is the Miscellaneous Award?
The Miscellaneous Award serves as a comprehensive recognition for employees across Australia who aren’t included in any other modern award.However, defining whether someone would be deemed to fall under the Miscellaneous Award is not an easy process, understanding the award is essential for ensuring accurate payment to your staff.
Let’s get to know more about The Miscellaneous Award. Effective from the first full pay period on or after 2020, the scope of the Miscellaneous Award will extend to encompass employees who were previously outside the coverage of any award. This amendment means that lower-skilled, semi-skilled, or trades-qualified roles, which were previously not addressed by another modern award, will now fall under the purview of the Miscellaneous Award.
Who is covered by the Miscellaneous Award?
This award applies to employers and their employees across Australia but there is one important exception, managerial and professional employees are not being covered, such as accountants, finance professionals, marketers, legal professionals, human resources specialists, public relations experts, and information technology specialists. Additionally, the award extends to employers supplying on-hire employees in specified classifications. Furthermore, it includes employers offering group training services for apprentices and trainees, along with apprentices and trainees engaged by a hosted group training service at relevant locations.
How are the hours of work arranged in the Miscellaneous Award?
Full-time and part-time employees are expected to work regular hours with set start and finish times, spread over a maximum of 6 days per week. On average, full-time or part-time employees should not work regular hours for more than 20 days within any 28-day period. Once the start and finish times are established, they can be changed by mutual agreement at any time or by the employer with 7 days’ notice. The regular hours worked should not exceed 10 hours per day or shift, unless agreed otherwise, in which case the maximum is 12 hours.
Employees should not work continuously for more than 5 hours without taking an unpaid meal break lasting at least 30 minutes.
Wages and allowances calculation in the Miscellaneous Award
- Minimum rates
Employee classification |
Minimum weekly rate (full-time employee) |
Minimum hourly rate |
Level 1 |
859.30 |
22.61 |
Level 2 |
914.90 | 24.08 |
Level 3 |
995.00 |
26.18 |
Level 4 | 1085.60 |
28.57 |
- Apprentice minimum rates
Year of apprenticeship |
% of Level 3 |
1st |
55% |
2nd |
65% |
3rd |
80% |
4th |
95% |
- Junior minimum rates
Age |
% of relevant adult minimum rate |
Under 16 years |
36.8% |
16 years |
47.3% |
17 years |
57.8% |
18 years |
68.3% |
19 years |
82.5% |
20 years |
97.7% |
- Wages-related Allowances
First aid allowance | An employee with first aid training and current qualifications is assigned first aid responsibilities by their employer, they must receive an additional $19.90 per week. |
Leading hand/in charge allowance | An allowance for team leaders or supervisors overseeing three or more employees is required. |
Clothing reimbursement | An employee required to provide special clothing or a uniform must be reimbursed by the employer for the cost of such clothing. |
Meal allowance | An employee who works more than one hour of overtime beyond their regular quitting time without being given 24 hours’ notice must either receive a meal or be paid a meal allowance of $21.57. |
Vehicle allowance | An employee who agrees with their employer to use their own motor vehicle on the employer’s business must be paid an allowance of $0.95 per kilometer. |
Reimbursement of expenses | An employee must be reimbursed all reasonable expenses incurred at the direction of the employer. |
Leave Manage in the Miscellaneous Award
The leave arrangements in the Miscellaneous Award are aligned with the National Employment Standards, which apply to the majority of Australian Awards. For full-time and part-time employees, this includes entitlements to paid annual leave and sick/carer’s leave. However, casual employees are not entitled to paid leave; instead, they receive a 25% loading on their hourly pay.
Aunnual Leave
Annual leave is provided for in the NES. When taking a period of paid annual leave an employee must be paid a loading of 17.5% in addition to the payment required by the NES or the ordinary pay they would have received for the period of the leave, whichever is the greater.
Further details can be found in the Fair Work Commission, and we understand that it’s not always easy to manually navigate and adhere to every detail of the award. However, if you’re looking to unlock your business’s potential, ensuring payroll compliance is essential. Let’s see what Workstem can help you with this award.
Why choose Workstem?
Using a digital Workforce Management software means you don’t have to deal with complicated manual calculations, which helps reduce the chance of mistakes. This frees up more energy to focus on business growth instead of handling employee complaints. You can get support from our professional service team who have been dedicated in human resource management and payroll calculation for over 10 years.
Benefits listed below
- Best-tailored solution for your business
- Save up 50% time to manage staff
- Seamless integration with NetSuite, Xero and more
- 100% award interpretation updated with Fair Work