Manufacturing Award rates in Australia 2025/2026

Manufacturing Award rate calculator (MA000010)

Quick casual rates 2025/26 (MA000010)

Casual ordinary hourly rates (general table — inclusive of 25% casual loading)

These are the casual ordinary hourly rates in Schedule C (C.3.2(a)), at the 100% column (ordinary hours).

Important nuance: the table rates do not include any clause 30.2 all-purpose allowances; if an all-purpose allowance applies, it must be added as described in C.3.1 before applying the casual loading.

Note: The Schedule C table above is the general casual table (inclusive of 25% casual loading). The Award provides a different casual loading arrangement for certain vehicle manufacturing employees in the technical field (see clause 11.1(e) and Schedule C.3.2(b)).

Manufacturing award (MA000010) — rates, coverage & key rules

The Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2020 (MA000010) sets minimum pay rates and employment conditions for many employees working in manufacturing, production, processing, and associated industries across Australia.

From the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2025, Award wages increased following the Annual Wage Review. The Award also contains detailed rules on:

• Skill-based classifications
• Ordinary hours across day, afternoon, and night shifts
• Overtime vs shift penalties
• Allowances (industry, tool, leading hand, etc.)
• Casual minimum engagements and the NES employee choice pathway

For many manufacturers, the biggest compliance risk is applying the wrong rate when a shift changes at short notice. Using award-aware rostering software helps reduce errors by applying rules consistently across rosters and timesheets.

Most searched manufacturing award rates (quick answer — MA000010)

Base minimum hourly rates (adult) — full-time & part-time employees (C-levels)

These are the minimum hourly rates in the Award's adult minimum rates table (clause 20.1(a)).

Note: These are minimum classification rates only. Employees may also be entitled to allowances, loadings or penalties under other clauses, and some adults (e.g., adult apprentices/trainees) have separate minimum rate tables.

Verify before you rely on this (required)

To avoid misclassification and missed allowances/penalties, employers should verify rates and entitlements using:

• Official Award text (consolidated)
• Fair Work Ombudsman Pay and Conditions Tool (PACT)
• Award summary / coverage

Roster control tip: Using roster warnings to flag shifts that trigger overtime/shiftwork helps prevent accidental underpayments.

Manufacturing award coverage — who MA000010 applies to

What is the manufacturing Award?

The Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2020 (MA000010) is a modern award that applies to many manufacturing and associated industry employers and employees, depending on what the business does and what work the employee performs.

Official sources:

• Fair Work Commission Award page
• Fair Work Ombudsman Award summary

Who the manufacturing award covers

The Award covers employers in manufacturing and associated industries, and employees who fit within the classifications or covered occupations in the award. Covered employees commonly include:

• Production and process workers, assemblers, packers
• Tradespersons and apprentices
• Machine operators (including CNC and specialised plant operators)
• Storepersons and forklift operators (where covered)
• Maintenance employees in engineering streams
• Laboratory technicians/testers
• Draughtspersons engaged in engineering, laboratory or scientific practice
• Production planners, trainee engineers and trainee scientists
• Engine drivers
• Employees in handling, sorting, packing, dispatch, distribution or transport connected with covered manufacturing
• Cleaners employed in a manufacturing business
• Some labour hire employees placed into covered work

Operationally, coverage issues often show up in payroll when one team spans multiple sites or cost centres. If you run more than one plant or warehouse, multi-site rostering can help keep Award rules consistent across locations.

Who is NOT covered (common exclusions)

The Award expressly excludes or does not cover various roles and industries. Common exclusions include:

• Clerical and administrative employees (who may be covered by the Clerks Award)
• Wood furniture and flooring businesses covered by the Timber Award
• Electrical contractors
• Some plumbing employees
• Contract cleaners (i.e., cleaners employed by a cleaning contractor, not the manufacturing business)
• Security personnel
• Gardeners
• Some rail transport work and some transmission cable work
• Employees covered by an enterprise agreement
• Senior managerial roles that are not Award-covered

Always confirm coverage before relying on any summary. If you need to validate outcomes per employee, use the Fair Work pay calculator.

Manufacturing award classifications & skill levels (C14–C1)

How classification works under MA000010

The Manufacturing Award uses a skill-based classification structure. Employees must be classified based on:

• Skill level and competencies used on the job
• Training, qualifications, and experience
• Level of autonomy and responsibility
• Complexity of tasks performed
• Supervision required and provided

The Manufacturing Award includes Schedule A classifications from C14 through C1, as well as separate vehicle manufacturing classifications in Schedule B where applicable. Classification errors typically cascade into underpayments across ordinary time, overtime, allowances, and leave.

A practical control is to ensure you store role details, licences, and competency evidence in one place (for example, using HR records and licence and certification management).

Why job titles don't determine pay

A job title like "Operator", "Leading Hand", or "Technician" doesn't automatically determine the Award level. Classification depends on what the employee actually does.

This is where businesses often benefit from written, role-specific terms in digital employment contracts (position, classification assumption, base hours, overtime approach).

Manufacturing award pay rates 2025/2026 (MA000010 minimum rates)

Award rates are minimum base rates only and exclude overtime, shift penalties, and allowances. Always verify current full tables via official sources:

• Pay guides directory (FWO)
• PACT pay calculator

Common manufacturing award classifications

Rates vary by classification, pay point, age, and employment type. Always check the current Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide for minimum hourly rates.

• C14 — Entry-level manufacturing employee
• C13 — Manufacturing employee with basic skills
• C12 — Experienced production worker
• C10 — Skilled operator / storeperson (in many cases)
• C8 — Advanced operator / higher skilled roles
• Tradesperson — Qualified trade roles

If you're managing multiple Awards (common in manufacturing businesses with admin + warehouse + production staff), using award interpretation reduces manual rework.

Manufacturing award casual rates (25% loading explained)

Casual loading

Most casual employees receive a 25% casual loading on ordinary hours. However, the Award provides different casual loading rules for certain vehicle manufacturing employees in the technical field (see clause 11.1(e) and Schedule C).

Minimum engagement

Under clause 11.2, a casual employee must generally be paid for a minimum of 4 consecutive hours on each occasion they are required to attend work. A shorter engagement of at least 3 consecutive hours is only possible where the casual employee requests it to meet their personal circumstances and the employer agrees.

Employee choice pathway (NES)

The pathway for eligible casual employees to change to permanent employment now operates through the NES "employee choice pathway", not the former award-based casual conversion model. The rules changed on 26 August 2024. Eligible non-small-business casuals employed before that date could start using the new pathway from 26 February 2025; eligible small-business casuals from 26 August 2025. Eligibility, notice, consultation and response rules should be checked against current Fair Work Ombudsman guidance on casual employees.

To manage employee choice pathway obligations, it helps to track patterns of work and availability accurately using staff availability management.

Manufacturing award ordinary hours & rostering rules

Ordinary hours arrangements in manufacturing frequently involve:

• Averaging over a roster cycle
• Day/afternoon/night shifts
• Weekend work by agreement
• RDO patterns

For day workers, ordinary hours are generally worked Monday to Friday within a 6:00 am to 6:00 pm spread, although the spread may move by up to one hour by agreement and weekend ordinary hours may be worked by agreement. Any change to regular rosters or ordinary hours is subject to the consultation requirements in clause 42.

Because small roster changes can change the correct rate (ordinary vs overtime vs shift), it's best practice to use rosters with built-in controls like roster warnings.

For planning, managers often need to see labour coverage across time horizons. Useful tooling includes daily, weekly, and monthly roster views.

Manufacturing award overtime rates & penalty rates

When is overtime paid under the manufacturing Award?

Overtime generally applies when an employee works outside ordinary hours or beyond limits/averaging arrangements (depending on the clause and roster structure).

Common overtime rate patterns under the manufacturing award

For employees other than continuous shiftworkers, common overtime rates are: 150% for the first 3 overtime hours worked Monday to Saturday, 200% after 3 hours, 200% for overtime on Sunday, and 250% for overtime on a public holiday. Where day workers work weekend ordinary hours by agreement, separate ordinary-time penalty rates apply: 150% on Saturday and 200% on Sunday. Always check the applicable clause for the employee's work pattern and stream.

Exact overtime rates and triggers depend on the employee's classification, shift status, and any averaging arrangements. Always confirm in the Award and pay guide.

A reliable way to reduce overtime miscalculations is to align timesheets to rosters with time and attendance tools and visibility into exceptions using live attendance.

Manufacturing award shiftwork & shift loadings

Manufacturing commonly operates on shiftwork. For most shiftworkers covered by clause 33.2, the key definitions and loadings are:

• Afternoon shift — a shift finishing after 6:00 pm and at or before midnight; ordinary rostered afternoon shift attracts 115% of the ordinary hourly rate
• Night shift — a shift finishing after midnight and at or before 8:00 am; ordinary rostered night shift attracts 115%
• Permanent night shift — employees rostered exclusively on night shifts; attracts 130%
• Rostered shift — a shift for which the employee has had at least 48 hours' notice

Sunday and public holiday shift rules are separate and substitute for the ordinary shift loading where they apply. Shift loadings apply only where an employee is engaged as a shiftworker under the Award and the shift meets the Award definition.

The vehicle-manufacturing technical-field stream has different shiftwork provisions. Always confirm the applicable clause and stream.

Why shift boundary accuracy matters

Because shift boundaries determine which loading applies (especially the midnight boundary for night shift), accurate clocking is critical. Options include:

• Kiosk time clock for factory floor clock-on/off
• GPS geofencing for mobile teams or multi-site maintenance
• Photo proof where you need higher integrity clocking

Manufacturing award meal & rest breaks

Meal and rest breaks are a frequent compliance issue in manufacturing environments (particularly where production pressure leads to missed breaks). Key entitlements under the Award include:

• Meal break — general rule: an unpaid meal break of not less than 30 minutes, and not more than 60 minutes, after no more than 5 hours of work
• Continuous shiftworkers: a 20-minute paid meal break that is counted as time worked (the shift is not broken)
• Paid rest period — technical/support stream: employees classified as technical workers, tracers, draughtspersons, production planners, trainee engineers, or trainee scientists are entitled to a paid 10-minute morning tea rest period, counted as time worked

Always confirm break entitlements against the Award clauses for your employees' classification and shift type. Some enterprise agreements contain additional or different break provisions.

Your compliance controls are stronger when break rules are supported by rostering guardrails and timesheet verification. Many businesses implement exception reporting and audit trails via roster reporting and broader analytics.

Manufacturing award allowances (leading hand, tool & industry allowances)

Allowances under MA000010 may include (depending on role and circumstance):

• Leading hand allowance
• Tool allowance
• Industry allowances
• First aid allowance
• Travel-related or expense reimbursements (in limited scenarios)

Some allowances are "all-purpose" (affecting other calculations) and others are expense-based. Always confirm what is payable and how it interacts with overtime and leave calculations in the Award and pay guide.

If you process allowances through payroll, it helps to have clean integration paths (e.g., payroll integration), including common systems like Xero or MYOB.

Manufacturing award leave entitlements

Most leave entitlements sit in the National Employment Standards (NES). For employees covered by MA000010, key NES entitlements include:

• Annual leave (4 weeks per year for most full-time employees; shift workers who are rostered for 7 days a week get 5 weeks)
• Personal/carer's leave
• Compassionate leave
• Community service leave (including jury duty and eligible emergency management activities)
• Parental leave
• Family and domestic violence leave: 10 days paid leave per year (available to all employees including casuals, from 1 February 2023 for large employers and 1 August 2023 for small businesses)

Note: casual employees have access to some NES entitlements (including community service leave and family and domestic violence leave) but not all (e.g., annual leave and personal/carer's leave are not available to casuals). Confirm which entitlements apply based on employment type.

NES source: National Employment Standards.

Long service leave is governed by state or territory legislation and, in some cases, other applicable instruments — not the Award itself.

Manufacturing award compliance checklist (2025/2026)

For day-to-day controls, manufacturers often rely on auto-scheduling to reduce manual roster errors and roster templates for consistent shift patterns.

Common manufacturing award mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Manufacturing award enterprise agreements & other instruments

This guide covers the Manufacturing Award 2020 (MA000010) only. Many large manufacturing employers operate under enterprise agreements rather than the Award alone. Key points to understand:

• An enterprise agreement sets minimum conditions for the employees it covers — it does not eliminate the National Employment Standards (NES), which continue to apply to all employees regardless of any agreement
• An enterprise agreement must pass the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT): the agreement cannot leave employees worse off overall compared to the Award
• Where an enterprise agreement applies, its specific provisions govern rather than the corresponding Award terms — but you should still confirm which Award underpins the agreement and whether it covers all roles
• Always identify the correct applicable instrument for each employee: Award, enterprise agreement, or individual flexibility arrangement (IFA) — each has different compliance obligations

Fair Work Ombudsman overview: Enterprise agreements.

Manufacturing award key takeaways — MA000010 compliance summary

• Confirm MA000010 coverage before applying rates
• Classify by Award definitions and actual duties (not job titles)
• Apply updated base rates from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2025
• Treat overtime vs shiftwork as a primary compliance risk — the rules differ significantly by employment type and stream
• Apply allowances correctly (and identify all-purpose allowances)
• Manage casual employees under the employee choice pathway (NES) — the former award-based conversion model no longer applies
• Ensure superannuation is paid at 12% of ordinary time earnings from 1 July 2025
• Train managers on right to disconnect obligations (clause 17A) — employees may refuse unreasonable out-of-hours contact
• Treat wage underpayment seriously — intentional underpayment has been a criminal offence since 1 January 2025
• Maintain strong records and timekeeping controls
• Use systematic rostering controls (warnings, templates, reporting) to reduce payroll errors

Final note and sources of authority

Nothing in this guide limits or alters an employer's legal obligations. Only the Fair Work Commission or a court can make a binding determination of Award coverage or classification.