Hardware & Building Supplies Back-Office Services

The Applicable Modern Award

Hardware & Building Supplies employees are typically covered by the General Retail 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 retail sale or hire of goods — clothing, food, furniture and household goods, personal and recreational goods and repair services for household equipment — under the General Retail Industry Award 2020, listing sales assistants, check-out operators, stock hands, department and store managers and back-office clerical staff in a shop among the employees covered. It does not cover community pharmacies, hair and beauty establishments, stand-alone butcher shops, stand-alone nurseries, motor vehicle and vehicle parts retailing, or restaurants, cafés and fast food operations. 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.

Classification structure: Retail Employee Level 1–3, Warehouse Worker, Forklift Operator (may fall under Storage Services Award).

Ordinary hours: 38 hours/week. Extended trading including Saturday and some Sunday.

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. Forklift operators may have different award coverage.

Key allowances: Forklift allowance, first aid allowance, tool allowance for trade counter staff.

Getting award interpretation wrong creates systematic underpayment that compounds with every pay period. Our payroll specialists configure award-specific software to calculate every classification, penalty, and allowance correctly — and conduct quarterly audits to ensure ongoing compliance.

Sources: award coverage — the Fair Work Ombudsman's summary of the Retail Award [MA000004] and the award text of the General Retail Industry Award 2020 [MA000004] (read 8 September 2026); pay and award rules — Fair Work Ombudsman and the Fair Work Commission; superannuation, BAS and tax — the Australian Taxation Office.