Hair and Beauty Industry Award

If you operate a hairdressing salon, barbershop, beauty or skin care clinic or nail salon in Australia and employ staff who are not otherwise award-free, the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020 (MA000005) almost always applies. It covers hairdressing, beauty therapy, nail and barbering services and the retail sale of related products. Standalone retail and some cosmetic or medical settings can fall under a different award, so confirm coverage against the Fair Work source before setting pay.

Assign each employee to the level that reflects the work they actually perform, using the classification definitions in the award, which describe the skills, qualifications and responsibilities for each level, from reception and entry roles through to qualified hairdressers and beauty therapists. A title alone is not enough; assess the real duties. Once you have the correct level, read its current minimum rate from the Fair Work Pay Calculator.

Casual employees are paid an hourly rate plus a casual loading, commonly 25% across modern awards, in place of the paid leave and entitlements casuals do not accrue. Casuals are common in salons for weekend and peak trading, and the loading combines with weekend penalties on those shifts. Treat 25% as a guide and confirm the exact loading, and how it stacks with penalties, for this award on the Fair Work source before running pay.

Saturday and Sunday ordinary hours attract weekend penalties under the award, which apply on most salon rosters given weekend trading. As a general guide, weekend penalties commonly run around 25% on Saturday and around 50% on Sunday, but the award sets its own figures by day and employment type, and casual loading stacks on top for casuals. Confirm the current Saturday and Sunday rates for the relevant employee on the Fair Work Pay Calculator before processing pay.

Work on a public holiday is paid at a significant premium under MA000005, which as a guide can reach up to 150% of the minimum rate, and a minimum payment may apply. Staff who would normally work that day but do not because it is a public holiday are generally entitled to their ordinary pay. If your salon trades on public holidays, confirm the current entitlement against the Fair Work source before processing that pay run.

Overtime generally applies when an employee works beyond the ordinary hours set by the award, such as exceeding the daily or weekly limits or working outside the spread of ordinary hours, which can happen on busy trading days. It is paid at stepped penalty rates that increase after the first couple of hours, with different treatment on weekends and public holidays. For the exact current multipliers, refer to the overtime provisions and the Fair Work source.

Yes. Part-time employees work fewer than full-time hours on a reasonably predictable pattern, and the award requires the agreed hours and days to be recorded in writing, with changes also agreed. Part-timers receive pro-rata leave and the same minimum rate as full-timers for their classification. Because salon trading patterns vary, keep the written arrangement current and clear about weekend and late-night hours, and check the part-time provisions in the award.

Junior employees are paid a percentage of the relevant adult rate that increases with their age, and apprentice hairdressers and beauty therapists are paid on a scale tied to their year of training. These rates are central in this industry, so they need recalculating at each birthday or training milestone, and the adult base they are drawn from changes annually too. Confirm the current junior and apprentice rates, and the right step, on the Fair Work Pay Calculator.

The award provides for allowances tied to the work, which may include a tool allowance for hairdressers who supply their own tools, a first aid allowance, a laundry or special clothing allowance, and a meal allowance for qualifying overtime, among others. Because several are linked to specific duties or conditions, they are easy to miss. Identify which apply to each role and confirm the current amounts on the Fair Work Pay Calculator rather than relying on remembered figures.

You can pay commission or incentives, but they cannot bring an employee below the award minimum for their classification and the hours they work, including any penalties. In practice you reconcile commission earnings against the award minimum each pay period and top up if commission falls short. Commission-only or low-base arrangements carry real risk if they breach the floor, so check each period and confirm the minimum figures on the Fair Work source.

Annual leave loading is an extra payment on top of base pay when an employee takes paid annual leave. Under this award it is 17.5% of the minimum rate. It applies to full-time and part-time employees taking annual leave, while casuals do not accrue annual leave. Apply the loading when processing leave payments and confirm the calculation against the Fair Work source so the entitlement is paid correctly.

Minimum rates and many allowances are reviewed each year in the Fair Work Commission's Annual Wage Review and take effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July. The 2026 review increased modern award minimums by 4.75%. Because junior rates are a percentage of the adult base, they move too. Apply the new rates from that pay period, not the calendar date, and verify the current figures for each classification and allowance on the Fair Work Pay Calculator every year.

Start with the correct classification for each employee, get junior and apprentice rates right at every milestone, then apply weekend and public holiday penalties (and the casual late-night loading where it applies), overtime and any allowances, reconciling any commission against the award minimum and refreshing every figure from the Fair Work Pay Calculator after each 1 July increase. Accurate roster and pay records are essential. Valont runs award-compliant payroll for hair and beauty employers, mapping each role to the correct classification, junior or apprentice rate, penalties and allowances so the right amount is paid every cycle.