Minimum Wage Calculator

Choose a Supported Award and Classification

Check the employer’s industry and what the employee actually does before choosing a pay schedule. A brokerage assistant’s job title alone cannot establish coverage or classification. Read the coverage clauses and compare the employee’s main duties and the skills and responsibility the job requires with the classification descriptions. Fair Work’s award coverage guide explains where to start.

The Clerks Award can cover employees who mainly do clerical or administrative work in the private sector. Check whether the Banking, Finance and Insurance Award covers the employer and has a classification for the role. The Clerks Award excludes employees covered by that industry award.

Choose the Clerks Award (MA000002) for supported adult day work. The calculator covers level 1 years 1 to 3, level 2 years 1 and 2 and levels 3 to 5. Find the level and year in the employee’s classification and check it against the Clerks Award. The two specialist call centre classifications need a separate check.

The National Minimum Wage option covers ordinary hours on the standard adult rate for national-system employees who are award and agreement free. It has no award classification. Use the Fair Work guide to award and agreement free employment to check that this schedule applies.

Understand the Minimum-Pay Breakdown

The hourly base rate is the published rate before casual loading or penalties. For a full-time employee working a complete 38-hour week, the calculation uses the published weekly rate for base pay. Multiplying the rounded hourly rate by 38 can give a slightly different amount.

Under the Clerks Award, enter paid weekday ordinary hours and Saturday ordinary hours between 7 am and 12:30 pm separately. Enter overtime in the band that applies on each weekday. For a fortnight, enter the overtime bands separately for each week. For part-time staff, work beyond their agreed ordinary hours can be overtime even within the ordinary span. Use the paid hours after applying the award’s minimum engagement rules.

Under clause 21.3 of the Clerks Award, the overtime rate applies once total overtime reaches 30 minutes in a week. If either week includes some overtime below that threshold, use PACT to check pay for those hours.

For example, suppose a part-time level 2, year 1 employee aged 24 works 23.5 weekday ordinary hours and 4 Saturday ordinary hours in the week starting 19 October 2026. They also work 3 hours of overtime on one weekday. They had at least 24 hours’ notice of the overtime and no car allowance applies.

• 23.5 weekday hours at $29.45 and 4 Saturday hours at $36.81 give $839.32 in ordinary pay. This includes a $29.44 Saturday premium.
• The first 2 hours of overtime at $44.18 and the next hour at $58.90 give $147.26 in overtime pay.
• Minimum gross pay for the week is $986.58.

These rates come from the Clerks Award pay guide for pay periods starting from 1 July 2026. Casual ordinary rates include 25% loading. Saturday and overtime have published combined rates, so the calculator counts the loading once. Pay components are rounded to cents.

If you require a Clerks Award employee to use their own car for work, the calculator adds $1 per eligible kilometre. The award caps this allowance at 400 kilometres in a week. A fortnightly pay uses a separate distance for each week.

Compare With Fair Work PACT

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s Pay and Conditions Tool (PACT) is the official government service. This independent calculator applies the schedules you select to the hours you enter.

1. Enter the same pay period start date in PACT. Select the employer option and use the award code if you know it.
2. Match the classification, employment type and age. Compare the hourly rate and the rates for each kind of paid hour. Under the National Minimum Wage, compare the adult rates with the Fair Work Commission’s wage schedule.
3. For an award employee, compare the same roster in PACT’s Shift Calculator. Include any unpaid breaks and check the allowances and minimum payments that apply.

Use Fair Work for another award, junior rates, apprenticeships, traineeships, supported wages or a pay period outside the available dates. Check enterprise agreements with the Fair Work Commission and apply their terms where they cover the employee.

Use PACT for public holidays, Sunday work, Saturday overtime or shiftwork. Check changed ordinary spans, return-to-duty pay and other special payments there too, including overtime meal allowances. The calculator assumes complete weeks with a standard ordinary span, hours already assigned to the correct rate bands and no change in rate or classification within the pay period.

Distinguish Minimum Pay From a Living Wage

The statutory or award minimum is a legal pay floor. A living wage estimate starts from what a household needs to cover its costs. You can agree to pay a higher rate in the employment contract.

The result gives gross pay for the hours and allowance you entered. Tax withholding, employee deductions, employer superannuation, leave and other payroll entitlements need separate calculations. Use your payroll records for take-home pay and total employment cost.