Restaurant Award Complete Guide — MA000119 (2026)

What Is the Restaurant Award in Australia?

The Restaurant Industry Award 2020 MA000119 is the modern award covering restaurants, cafes, bistros, and similar food-focused venues in Australia. It sets minimum pay rates, penalty rates, allowances, and conditions for employees under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). It is a separate Award from the Hospitality Industry (General) Award MA000009, with different penalty rates, different minimum engagement requirements, and a different late-night loading time band. Operators who confuse the two Awards face systematic underpayment exposure across every payroll cycle.

For a side-by-side comparison of MA000119 against the Hospitality Award, see Fitz HR’s Hospitality Award vs Restaurant Award — key differences guide, or read the complete MA000009 Hospitality Award reference.

This guide is based on the Restaurant Industry Award 2020 (MA000119) and Fair Work Commission determinations as at April 2026. Award rates are subject to annual Fair Work Commission review typically effective 1 July each year.

Penalty Rates (2026)

Penalty rates under the Restaurant Award apply on top of ordinary rates for full-time and part-time employees. For casual employees, the rates below are the all-inclusive rates — the 25% casual loading is built into the casual percentage and is not stacked separately on weekend or public holiday penalty rates.

Common mistake: The late evening and early morning loadings are flat dollar amounts — not percentages of the ordinary rate. They are also paid per hour or part of an hour worked in the relevant period, which means a single half-hour worked after 10pm still attracts the full $2.81 loading for that hour. Applying these as percentages, or only counting whole hours, are systematic underpayment errors.

Restaurant Award vs Hospitality Award — Key Differences

Confusing the Restaurant Award MA000119 with the Hospitality Award MA000009 is the single most common Award coverage error in Australian food and beverage businesses. The two Awards have different penalty rate structures, different minimum engagement requirements, and different time bands for evening loadings.

If a venue primarily serves alcohol or provides accommodation, the Hospitality Award is more likely to apply. If the venue is primarily a sit-down food business — restaurant, cafe, bistro, reception centre — the Restaurant Award is more likely to apply. Read the full breakdown in Hospitality vs Restaurant Award — key differences.

Classification Levels — How Employees Are Classified Under MA000119

Under the Restaurant Award MA000119, employees are classified across an Introductory level plus six numbered levels based on role, skill, and responsibility. Each classification has its own minimum hourly rate. Misclassifying an employee below their actual skill level — for example, paying a Level 2 rate for someone performing Level 3 work — creates ongoing underpayment exposure across every shift worked.

Classification levels under MA000119 include:

• Introductory Level: A new entrant to the industry who does not yet meet Level 1 competency requirements. The Introductory level applies for up to 3 months, extendable by agreement to a further 3 months for training. It is not a permanent low-pay tier
• Level 1: Food and beverage attendants without formal qualifications, kitchen attendants, and equivalent entry roles after Introductory completion
• Level 2: Food and beverage attendants performing more complex duties, qualified or experienced cooks, and waiters with broader responsibilities — the most common classification in many restaurants and cafes
• Level 3: Tradesperson cooks (Cook Grade 3), specialist food and beverage roles, and employees with trade qualifications
• Levels 4–6: Senior tradesperson cooks (chef de partie, sous chef, head chef equivalent), supervisory and specialist roles, and managerial-equivalent classifications with progressively higher minimum rates

For the full classification-by-classification pay rate breakdown, see the 2026 Restaurant Award rates guide, and explore how Fitz HR compares to HR consultants for Award interpretation.

Award Coverage — Who It Applies To

The Restaurant Award covers employers and employees working in:

• Restaurants, cafes, and bistros (sit-down food service)
• Reception centres and function venues primarily focused on food
• Tea rooms and coffee shops with table service
• Night clubs (where food service is the primary activity)
• Sit-down roadhouses and similar food-focused venues
• Catering businesses operated by a restaurant business

It does not cover:

• Restaurants connected to hotels, motels, or pubs (typically MA000009 Hospitality Award)
• Establishments where food is primarily sold for takeaway (typically MA000003 Fast Food Award)
• Restaurants operated by registered or licensed clubs (typically MA000058 Registered and Licensed Clubs Award)
• Employees working under a registered enterprise agreement that covers the same conditions

If you’re unsure which Award covers your venue, see Hospitality Award vs Restaurant Award — key differences.

Key Provisions — Topic by Topic

The Restaurant Award contains specific provisions across all major HR topics. Each links to a detailed guide:

Casual Conversion Under MA000119 — Updated February 2025

From 26 February 2025, casual conversion under all modern awards — including MA000119 — is initiated by the employee, not the employer. This is a fundamental change from the prior framework where the employer was required to make a written offer.

Under the current Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) framework:

• A casual employee can give written notice requesting conversion to permanent employment after 6 months of employment (or 12 months for small businesses with fewer than 15 employees), provided they no longer meet the legal definition of a casual employee
• The employer must respond in writing within 21 days, either accepting the conversion or providing valid reasons for refusal
• Employers must continue to provide the Casual Employment Information Statement to all casual employees at commencement and at the relevant 6 or 12 month milestone
• Disputes about conversion can be resolved through the Award’s dispute resolution clause and ultimately the Fair Work Commission

Failing to provide the Casual Employment Information Statement, or unreasonably refusing a conversion request, are separate contraventions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). See the full casual conversion guide.

Common Restaurant Award Mistakes That Cost Venues Money

The following errors are the most frequently identified in Fair Work Ombudsman investigations of Australian restaurants and cafes. Each is a separate contravention with its own penalty exposure:

• Applying Hospitality Award rates to a Restaurant Award employee — using MA000009 penalty percentages (Saturday 150%, Sunday 175%) for an employee actually covered by MA000119 (Saturday 125%, Sunday 150%) results in overpayment, but the reverse — using MA000119 rates for an MA000009 employee — is systematic underpayment
• Applying late evening and early morning loadings as percentages — the $2.81/hr (10pm–midnight Mon–Fri) and $4.22/hr (midnight–6am) loadings are flat dollar amounts under MA000119, not percentages of the ordinary rate
• Confusing casual minimum engagement with part-time daily minimum — under MA000119, the casual minimum engagement is 2 consecutive hours (clause 11.3), the same as the Hospitality Award MA000009. The 3-hour figure is the part-time minimum daily engagement under clause 10.7(b), which prohibits rostering a part-time employee for fewer than 3 hours or more than 11.5 hours in a day. Mixing the two creates rostering errors in both directions
• Incorrect employee classification — paying a Level 2 rate for an employee performing Level 3 trade-qualified work creates ongoing underpayment across every shift
• Recording rostered hours rather than actual hours — record-keeping obligations under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) require actual start and finish times for every shift
• Missing the delayed meal break penalty — when a meal break is not provided at the rostered time or after the 6th hour of a shift, MA000119 requires a penalty rate to apply until the break is taken
• Misapplying annualised wage arrangements — MA000119 permits annualised wage arrangements only for full-time employees, only by written agreement, with strict outer-limit hours and a mandatory annual reconciliation. Treating a salary as covering unlimited hours is non-compliant
• Stacking the 25% casual loading on top of weekend rates — the casual percentages in the Award (Saturday 150%, Sunday 175%, PH 250%) are all-inclusive. The 25% casual loading is built in, not stacked separately on top

See the complete Fair Work compliance guide and the Fair Work fines guide for Australian venues.

Fair Work Compliance — What Venues Must Do

Operating under the Restaurant Award MA000119 creates specific compliance obligations beyond just paying the correct rates:

• Record keeping: All employee records must be kept for 7 years, including actual start and finish times (not rostered times), classification level, pay rates, allowances, leave records, and superannuation contributions
• Payslips: Must be issued within one working day of pay day, and must include all information required under the Fair Work Regulations
• Casual Employment Information Statement: Must be provided to casuals at commencement and again at the 6-month (or 12-month for small business) milestone
• Casual conversion responses: Where an employee gives written notice requesting conversion, the employer must respond in writing within 21 days
• Annualised wage reconciliation: Where annualised wage arrangements are used, the employer must reconcile actual hours against the salary at least every 12 months and pay any shortfall
• Overtime: Applies after ordinary hours limits and must be paid at the correct overtime rate — 150% for the first 2 hours, 200% thereafter for full-time employees
• Superannuation: Currently 12% on Ordinary Time Earnings (excluding overtime). Penalty rates and loadings on ordinary hours are part of OTE

See the complete Fair Work compliance checklist, the Fair Work compliance pillar guide, and how Fitz HR compares to other HR platforms for ongoing Award compliance support.

Frequently Asked Questions