Surveying Award

If you run a private surveying practice or consultancy in Australia, the Surveying Award 2020 (MA000066) is an occupational award that generally applies to your professional surveyors, including graduate and licensed or registered surveyors (clause 4.2), as well as your field, technical and office support staff. Professional registration does not by itself make a surveyor award-free; any award-free status rests on the Fair Work Act high-income or managerial tests. Some work may fall under construction or mining awards instead, so confirm coverage for each role against the Fair Work source before setting pay.

Match the employee to the level that reflects the work they actually perform, using the award's classification definitions, which weigh skills, qualifications, experience and how independently the person works. In surveying, the degree of supervision matters a great deal, so an entry-level field assistant sits well below an experienced technical officer. Title alone is not enough; assess the real duties, then read the current rate for that level from the Fair Work Pay Calculator.

Casual surveying employees are paid an hourly rate plus a casual loading, commonly 25% across modern awards, in place of the paid leave and other entitlements casuals do not receive. The loading can combine with weekend and public holiday penalties when casuals work those days, so it is not always a flat add-on. Treat 25% as a guide and confirm the exact loading and how it interacts with penalties for this award on the Fair Work source before running pay.

Ordinary hours worked on Saturdays and Sundays attract penalty rates under the award. As a guide, Saturday loadings are commonly around 25% and Sunday around 50%, but MA000066 sets its own figures and casuals can be treated differently. Field survey work sometimes runs into weekends to suit site access, so always confirm the current Saturday and Sunday rates for your employee type on the Fair Work Pay Calculator before processing pay.

Work on a public holiday is paid at a significant premium, which across awards can reach up to 150% of the minimum rate, and a minimum engagement may apply. Employees who would normally work that day but do not because it is a public holiday are generally entitled to their ordinary pay under the National Employment Standards. Check the current public holiday entitlement for MA000066 against the Fair Work source before running a pay period that includes one.

Overtime 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. Field work that runs long to finish a job before leaving site can readily tip into overtime. Overtime is paid at penalty rates that step up after the first couple of hours, with higher rates on Sundays; confirm the applicable multipliers on the Fair Work source.

Yes. Part-time employees work fewer than full-time hours on a reasonably predictable pattern, and the award requires a written agreement setting out the agreed hours, days and times, with any changes also agreed in writing. Part-timers receive pro-rata leave and the same minimum rates as full-timers for their classification. This suits practices with fluctuating field workloads; check the part-time provisions in the award for the full requirements.

Junior rates may apply to younger employees in some roles, set as a percentage of the relevant adult rate, and where a practice takes on an apprentice or trainee, their rate is also a percentage that increases as they progress. Because the underlying adult rate changes each year, apply the correct percentage to the current figure rather than carrying a dollar amount forward, and confirm the result on the Fair Work Pay Calculator.

Because surveying is field-based, the award provides allowances that can include a vehicle or travel allowance for using a car and getting to site, a living-away-from-home allowance for remote work, and a meal allowance for qualifying overtime. Which apply depends on the role and the job, and they are paid on top of the base rate. Identify the relevant allowances for each employee and confirm current amounts on the Fair Work Pay Calculator.

Annual leave loading is an extra payment on top of base pay when an employee takes annual leave. Under this award it is 17.5% of the minimum rate of pay, and it applies to full-time and part-time employees taking paid annual leave. Casuals do not accrue annual leave. Apply the loading when processing leave payments and confirm the calculation against the Fair Work source, particularly for staff who would otherwise earn allowances while working.

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%. Apply the new rates from that pay period, not the calendar date, and refresh each classification rate and allowance from the Fair Work Pay Calculator each year so your survey payroll stays compliant.

Surveying frequently involves travelling to sites that may be distant or remote, and the award deals with this through travel and vehicle allowances and, for genuinely remote work, living-away-from-home provisions. Whether travel time itself counts as time worked depends on the award's provisions and the arrangement. Map out the travel involved in each job, then confirm what is payable, and the current allowance amounts, against the Fair Work source.

The judgment calls with MA000066 are the classification level for supervised versus independent field staff, the travel, vehicle and remote-work allowances, weekend and overtime penalties when jobs run long, junior and apprentice rates, and figures refreshed every July. Anchor every figure to the Fair Work Pay Calculator and review pay each 1 July, keeping accurate records of hours and travel. Valont's People Hub runs award-compliant payroll for surveying practices, mapping classifications, allowances and penalties so the right amount is paid every cycle.