Penalty rates calculator 2026-27
This penalty rates calculator applies the weekend, night or public holiday percentage from your award to your base rate, plus the 25% casual loading where it applies. A casual on $28.50 an hour working an 8-hour Sunday at an example 150% penalty earns $399.00 with the loading added. Your award's 2026-27 pay guide sets the real percentage.
The link carries the numbers you entered, so anyone who opens it sees the same result.
Pay for the shift
$399
Breakdown
| Hourly rate for the shift | 49.875 |
|---|---|
| Pay for the shift | $399 |
| Same shift on a weekday | $285 |
| Extra for working it | $114 |
- Hourly rate for the shift
- $49.875
- Same shift on a weekday
- $285
- Extra for working it
- $114
- Weekly tax withheld without it
- $183
- Weekly tax withheld with it
- $311
- Super on the shift
- $47.88
Common weekend and public holiday multipliers
Penalty rates are usually written as a percentage of the base hourly rate, so a Sunday rate of 150% pays 1.5 times the base rate for each hour. The percentages differ between awards and between permanent and casual staff, so treat the figures below as common examples only.
| Penalty (% of base) | Permanent rate | Casual, loading added | Casual, loading multiplied | 8-hour casual shift, loading added |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125% | $35.625 | $42.75 | $44.531 | $342.00 |
| 150% | $42.75 | $49.875 | $53.438 | $399.00 |
| 175% | $49.875 | $57.00 | $62.344 | $456.00 |
| 200% | $57.00 | $64.125 | $71.25 | $513.00 |
| 225% | $64.125 | $71.25 | $80.156 | $570.00 |
| 250% | $71.25 | $78.375 | $89.063 | $627.00 |
Saturday rates are often lower than Sunday rates, and public holiday rates are usually the highest in an award. Your payslip shows the rate actually paid.
What regular weekend work does to your year
Regular weekend work changes annual income more than one shift suggests. In the default example, the casual earns $1,140 a week from four weekday shifts, or $59,280 a year. Adding the $399 Sunday shift every week lifts that to $80,028.
That's $5,928 more than the same Sunday hours would earn at the weekday casual rate. Each of those extra dollars is taxed at 30% plus the 2% Medicare levy, and up to $66,667 a further 1.5 cents is lost from the low income tax offset.
Casual loading and penalty rates: added or multiplied?
Many awards add the casual loading to the penalty percentage, but some multiply them or set one combined casual rate. The method can change a shift's pay by an hour's base pay or more. Take an 8-hour Sunday at $28.50, where the award penalty is 150%.
8-hour Sunday at a 150% penalty
Loading added
- Working
- 150% + 25% = 175% of base, or $28.50 × 1.75
- Hourly rate
- $49.875
- Shift pay
- $399.00
Loading multiplied
- Working
- $28.50 × 1.25 × 1.5
- Hourly rate
- $53.4375
- Shift pay
- $427.50
The difference is $28.50 a shift, exactly one hour at the base rate. Across 40 Sunday shifts in a year, that's $1,140. Check which method your award uses before relying on the result.
Some awards quote the casual weekend rate as one figure, such as 175% or 200% of the permanent base rate. In that case, enter the combined percentage and set the loading to zero.
The casual loading is 25% of the base rate. It's paid instead of entitlements such as paid leave. A casual on the national minimum wage of $26.44 gets at least $33.05 an hour from 1 July 2026 (Fair Work Ombudsman minimum wage release (opens in a new tab)).
Finding the rates in your award
Your award, enterprise agreement or contract sets your penalty rates. The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes pay guides for each modern award with every penalty and loading in dollars.
- 1
Get the name
Check your payslip or contract for the name of the award or agreement.
- 2
Open the pay guide
Find the guide for that award on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.
- 3
Go to your level
Find your classification level, then the casual or permanent table.
- 4
Read across
Look along to the Saturday, Sunday, public holiday and shift columns.
Modern award minimum wages rose by 4.75% from 1 July 2026, with an extra adjustment for the C13 and C14 classifications (Fair Work Commission). Pay guides dated before that change will show lower rates.
An enterprise agreement can set different penalty rates from the award. It must still leave employees better off overall than the award when it's approved, so the agreement's own rate tables are the ones to use.
What the shift estimate leaves out
The calculator gives gross pay for one shift and an estimate of tax withheld. It doesn't include:
- Allowances such as meal, travel or uniform allowances.
- Minimum engagement rules that guarantee a minimum number of paid hours per shift.
- Award rules that switch to overtime rates after a set number of hours.
- HELP repayments or a second job.
Penalty pay is taxed as ordinary income at your marginal rate. In the default example, the Sunday shift lifts weekly withholding from $183 to $311, so $128 of the $399 is withheld. Mid-year, the YTD income calculator turns a payslip full of irregular shifts into a full-year estimate.
A one-off payment on top of your rate is a bonus, and the bonus tax calculator shows how it's withheld.
Super on penalty rates
Penalty rates for ordinary hours counted toward ordinary time earnings, the old base for the super guarantee. From 1 July 2026 the 12% guarantee is calculated on "qualifying earnings" instead.
The ATO's qualifying earnings list (opens in a new tab) includes shift penalties, public holiday penalties and casual loading. Overtime stays out where ordinary hours are clearly identified. On the $399 Sunday shift, 12% is $47.88.
Penalty rate questions: what they are, casual Sunday rates, public holidays and salaried roles
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What is a penalty rate?
It's a higher hourly rate paid for work at times an award treats as unsociable, such as weekends, public holidays, evenings and nights. It's set as a percentage of the base rate. At 150% on a $28.50 base, a permanent employee earns $42.75 an hour, and a casual with the 25% loading added earns $49.875.
How much is the Sunday rate for a casual?
It depends on your award, so check the pay guide. As an example, with a 150% Sunday penalty and the 25% loading added, a casual on $28.50 earns $49.875 an hour, or $399.00 for 8 hours. If the award multiplies the loading instead, the same shift pays $427.50.
How are public holidays paid?
Work on a public holiday is usually paid at the highest penalty rate in an award. As an example, 250% of a $28.50 base is $71.25 an hour for a permanent employee. Permanent staff who are rostered off on a public holiday that falls on a normal working day are paid for their ordinary hours.
Do salaried employees get penalty rates?
Salaried employees covered by an award can be paid an annualised salary that absorbs penalty rates. The salary still has to cover what the award would have paid for the hours actually worked, so compare it against the pay guide. Award-free salaried staff receive penalty rates only if their contract provides them.
Estimates only, based on published rates for 2026-27. General information, not tax or financial advice.
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