Learn more about what you should get if you’re covered by the Wine Award.

On this page:

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

Checking pay and conditions

To confirm if you're getting the right pay and conditions, check if you:

• are covered under the Wine Award
• are in the right stream, based on your work
• are at the right classification level
• should be considered a shiftworker or day worker, based on your hours of work
• are entitled to any allowances.

If you're covered by a different award, different rules about pay and conditions will apply.

You can check you award and calculate your minimum pay using our Pay and Conditions Tool.

Wine Award coverage

The Wine Award applies to employers in the wine industry and their employees.

The wine industry is:

• the preparation of land for growing and cultivating wine grape vines
• processing of wine grapes
• packaging and, storing and dispatching of wine.

The Wine Award also covers other activities associated with a winery or wine distillery, including:

• cellar door sales
• laboratory activities
• making or repairing barrels, vats, and casks.

The Wine Award doesn’t cover:

• wine retail stores not linked with a winery
• employees who work at a restaurant located at a winery
• bus/van drivers and tour guides employed by wine tour businesses.

These employees are covered by different awards.

For detailed definitions and a copy of the award, visit Wine Award summary.

Classification levels

Under the Wine Award, employees are grouped into streams of work based on the tasks they perform.

An employee’s stream may be relevant for other entitlements, including hours of work and allowances.

Within each stream, employees will be classified into levels based on their skills and experience.

An employee’s minimum pay rate will be set by their level, not their stream.

The streams in the Wine Award are:

• bottling
• cellar
• cellar door sales
• laboratory
• vineyard
• warehouse and supply
• coopers.

For detailed descriptions of the streams and levels, read Schedule A of the Wine Award.

Seasonal work

Employees working in the wine industry may be engaged on a seasonal basis. This means they are engaged for fixed term or task.

Fixed term employees are entitled to the same pay and conditions as permanent employees for the period they are employed. They generally don’t receive notice of termination or redundancy if their employment is terminated at the end of the contracted period.

For more information, read out page on Fixed term contract employees.

Hours of work

Full-time employees can work a maximum of 38 hours a week on average. Any more than 38 hours is considered overtime.

The maximum daily ordinary hours is 10 hours. The employer and majority of employees in the workplace can agree to extend to up to 12 hours per day.

Casuals

Casual employees must be engaged for a minimum of 4 hours per shift. If they finish early they must still be paid for 4 hours work. Casual pruning and harvesting employees may be paid for a minimum of 2 hours if they’re impacted by unexpected weather during their shift.

Pieceworkers

If an employee is a pieceworker, the rules about ordinary hours of work don’t apply to them. Read more at Piece rates.

When hours are worked

The rules about when the ordinary hours should be worked depends on:

• the employee’s stream
• if the employee is a day worker or a shiftworker.

Ordinary hours are worked for day workers:

• working in the vineyard, between 5 am and 6 pm, Monday to Saturday, during the period of the vintage
• in cellar door sales, between 6 am and 6 pm, Monday to Friday, as well as 8 am to 6 pm, Saturday and Sunday
• not in cellar door sales or working in the vineyard, between 6 am and 6 pm, Monday to Friday.

The vintage is a period of time:

• no longer than 6 months
• starting on the date when the harvest of wine grapes begins at a particular vineyard
• ends on the date the last wine grapes are harvested at that vineyard
• between November and June each year.

Shiftwork

There are specific rules for employees doing work on afternoon or night shifts. While working these shifts, employees are called shiftworkers.

A shiftworker can be rostered to work the following shifts:

• afternoon shift - finishing between 6 pm and midnight, or
• night shift - finishing between midnight and 8 am.

Employees working afternoon or night shifts must be paid 115% of the minimum hourly rate.

An employee on permanent night shift must be paid 130% of the minimum hourly rate. Permanent night shift means working:

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

Penalty rates

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

Penalty rates for shiftworkers replace their normal shiftworker rate.

Breaks

Day workers

Day workers must get an unpaid meal break of between 30 and 60 minutes no later than 5 hours after the start of work.

Shiftworkers

Shiftworkers must get an unpaid meal break of 30 minutes no later than 4.5 hours after the start of work.

Shiftworkers can agree to work up to 6 hours without the paid meal break if the employee is:

• a casual employee, or a part-time employee engaged to work no more than 6 hours in any one shift, or
• working their ordinary hours on the basis of a short day each week.

Paid rest breaks

In addition to meal breaks, all employees must be given a paid rest break of 10 minutes on each day or shift.

When breaks aren’t given

If an employee isn’t given their appropriate meal break, or overtime meal break, they must be paid 150% of the relevant rate of pay from the point the meal break should have started until the meal break is given.

Piece rates

Under the Wine Award employees can agree with their employer to be paid a piece rate instead of a minimum hourly rate of pay.

A piece rate is where an employee gets paid by the piece. The rate is based on the amount the employee, also called pieceworker, has picked, packed, pruned or made.

An employer and an employee may enter into a signed written agreement for the employee to be paid a piecework rate. This applies to full-time, part-time and casual employees.

The agreed piecework rate has to allow an employee of average capacity to earn at least 20% more per hour than the relevant minimum hourly rate in the award.

There has to be a separate piecework agreement for each employee on a piecework rate. A piecework rate is based on individual effort only, not group effort. An employer has to be able to determine each individual employee’s output.

For more information on how to use piece rates, including templates for piecework agreement, visit How to use piecework agreements - Wine Award.

Overtime

Any work done outside of ordinary hours is overtime.

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 as a separate amount.

An employee can receive an allowance to cover expenses, or to compensate for performing a specific task.

The Wine Award includes allowances for:

• travel
• meals
• tools
• first aid duties
• specific tasks

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

Source reference for page: Wine Industry Award [MA000090] clauses 4, 9–11, 13–14, 19, 22–23.

Tools and resources

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

Related information

• Wine Award summary
• Horticulture Showcase