Fast Food and Quick Service Back-Office Services

The Award: typically the Fast Food Industry Award 2020

Which award applies depends on the business, the work each employee actually performs, their classification and whether they are full-time, part-time or casual. The Fair Work Ombudsman's coverage summary places the fast food industry — taking orders for, preparing, selling and delivering meals, snacks and beverages mainly for take-away, including food-court outlets and cafés where the main food or drink is sold packaged to take away — under the Fast Food Industry Award 2020, including delivery drivers the business employs directly. It does not cover cafés, restaurants, coffee shops or bars that mainly sell food and drink to be eaten on the premises or offer table service (they fall under the Restaurant or Hospitality Awards), or delivery riders who are not employed by the business. Check coverage for your own business rather than assuming one award covers everyone, and use the Fair Work Pay Calculator for the current rate for a given award, classification and shift.

Classifications: Fast Food Employee Level 1 (entry, front counter), Level 2 (basic cooking, shift duties), Level 3 (advanced cooking, shift supervisor). Junior rates apply for employees under 21.

Ordinary hours: 38 hours per week, averaged over up to 4 weeks.

Penalty rates: the award sets separate rates for Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and for overtime, evening, night or shift work where it provides them, and they vary by classification and by whether the employee is full-time, part-time or casual — casual employees have their own rates in the award's penalty table. Rather than work from a remembered percentage, look up the current rate for the specific classification and shift on the Fair Work Pay Calculator and apply the rate in effect on the day worked. Junior employees are paid a percentage of the adult rate that rises with age up to 21 (Fast Food Industry Award 2020 clause 15, read 8 September 2026), so their penalty rates are lower in dollar terms.

Minimum engagement: 3 consecutive hours per shift for casual employees (Fast Food Industry Award 2020 clause 11.3, read 8 September 2026) — longer than the Hospitality Award's 2 hours.

Key allowances: meal allowance, uniform/laundry, first aid allowance.

Getting these provisions wrong creates systematic underpayment that compounds with every pay period. The Fair Work Ombudsman actively monitors compliance in this sector, and the penalties for deliberate underpayment were significantly increased under recent legislation. Valont's payroll specialists configure your payroll software with the exact award rules for each employee classification, eliminating manual interpretation errors.

Sources: award coverage — the Fair Work Ombudsman's summary of the Fast Food Award [MA000003] and the award text of the Fast Food Industry Award 2020 [MA000003] (read 8 September 2026); pay and award rules — Fair Work Ombudsman and the Fair Work Commission; superannuation, BAS and tax — the Australian Taxation Office.