Learn more about entitlements for employees in the poultry industry.

On this page:

• Checking pay and conditions
• Poultry Award coverage
• Classification levels
• Hours of work
• Shiftwork
• Penalty rates
• Breaks
• Overtime
• Allowances
• Tools and resources
• Related information

Checking pay and conditions

To confirm whether an employee is receiving the right pay and conditions, check if they are:

• covered by the Poultry Award
• classified at the right level
• a shiftworker or day worker, based on their hours of work
• entitled to any allowances.

You can calculate the minimum pay rate, penalty rates and allowances using our Pay and Conditions Tool.

Poultry Award coverage

The Poultry Award applies to employers in the poultry processing industry and their employees.

The poultry processing industry means:

• killing and processing
• preparing and packing
• wholesale and distribution of poultry products.

The Poultry Award doesn't cover:

• employees who prepare poultry products in a retail shop
• shop assistants
• employers in the meat industry.

For a detailed definition, visit Poultry Award summary.

Classification levels

Employees under the Poultry Award have their minimum pay rates set by their classification level.

An employee’s level depends on their skills, duties and experience.

Employees can find their minimum pay rate using our Pay and Conditions Tool.

For detailed descriptions of the classification levels under the Poultry Award, read Schedule A of the Award.

Hours of work

Under the Poultry Award, full-time employees work an average of 38 ordinary hours a week.

Any more than 38 hours is considered overtime.

Part-time and casual employees must be engaged for at least 3 hours each shift. A casual employee is still entitled to be paid for 3 hours even if the shift is shorter.

Employees can work a maximum of 10 ordinary hours a day, or 152 hours over 28 days. However, the employer and majority of employees in the workplace can agree to extend this to up to 12 hours per day.

Ordinary hours must be worked between 5 am and 5 pm. This spread of hours can be moved an hour earlier or later by agreement between the employer and a majority of employees. In some circumstances this change can be agreed between the employer and an individual employee.

Employees who agree to work ordinary hours on Saturday and Sunday will be entitled to weekend shift penalty rates.

Shiftwork

There are specific rules for shiftwork employees working ordinary hours on early morning, afternoon and night shifts. While working these shifts, employees are called shiftworkers.

A shiftworker can work the following shifts:

• early morning shift – starts between 2 am and 4 am
• afternoon shift - finishes between 5 pm and midnight, or 6 pm and midnight by agreement
• night shift - finishes between midnight and 8 am.

Shiftworkers working:

• early morning shifts must be paid 110% of their ordinary hourly rate
• afternoon or night shifts must be paid 115% of their ordinary hourly rate
• permanent night shifts must be paid 125% of their ordinary hourly rate.

Casual employees working as shiftworkers are entitled to be paid their 25% casual loading as well as the shift loading that applies.

Permanent night shift means working any of the following:

• only on night shift
• night shifts for longer than 4 consecutive weeks
• on a night shift which doesn’t rotate or alternate, so the employee has at least one third of their working time off night shift in each cycle.

Shiftworkers working on weekends or public holidays get paid the weekend or public holiday penalty rate for the hours they work on those days. These penalty rates are paid instead of the shift loading for that shift.

Shiftworkers working public holidays must be paid for a minimum of 4 hours.

Penalty rates

Employees can receive higher minimum pay rates when working certain hours.

Under the Poultry Award, the penalty rates for all employees are:

• 150% of their ordinary hourly rate on Saturday
• 175% of their ordinary hourly rate on Sunday
• 250% of their ordinary hourly rate on public holidays.

When shiftworkers work shifts with penalty rates, the penalty rates replace their normal shiftworker rate.

You can calculate what penalty rates apply using our Pay and Conditions Tool

Breaks

Employees must get an unpaid meal break of between 30 and 60 minutes no later than 6 hours after they start work.

Employees get an additional rest break depending on the length of their shift.

An employee gets:

• 1 paid rest break, if they work between 3 and 6 hours
• 2 paid rest breaks, if they work more than 6 hours.

Shiftworkers working consecutive shifts of 8 hours or longer per day must get a paid 20 minute break instead of any other meal break.

Overtime

Any work performed outside an employee's ordinary hours is counted as overtime.

Overtime is paid at:

• 150% of the ordinary hourly rate for the first 3 hours Monday to Saturday
• 200% of the ordinary hourly rate after the first 3 hours Monday to Saturday.

All overtime worked on Sunday is paid at 200% and 250% on public holidays.

Casuals working overtime don’t get their casual loading added to their overtime rate.

Minimum hours of payment apply for overtime work on weekends and public holidays. Employees working overtime:

• on a Saturday must be paid for a minimum of 3 hours
• on a Sunday or public holiday must be paid for a minimum of 4 hours.

There are also rules about:

• time off in lieu (TOIL) of overtime
• returning to work for overtime
• minimum time off after overtime.

For information about these rules, read the Award or use our Pay and Conditions Tool.

Allowances

Allowances are additional payments made to an employee amount on top of their minimum pay rate.

An employee can receive an allowance to cover expenses, to compensate for performing a specific task or in a certain location (such as a cool room).

The Poultry Award includes allowances for:

• using a personal vehicle
• meals after overtime
• first aid duties
• specific tasks.

For general information on allowances and how they are paid, go to Allowances.

Source reference for page: Poultry Processing Award [MA000074] clauses 4, 9–11, 13–14, 17, 19–20 .

Tools and resources

• Pay and Conditions Tool
• Common workplace problems
• Fixing a workplace problem

Related information

• Poultry Award summary
• Employee entitlements in the meat industry