Shift cost calculator
Work out what a single shift costs at the penalty rate in your award: wages, the extra over the ordinary rate, super and workers compensation.
Figures checked 5 November 2026. Free to use, no sign-in.
Your estimate
Cost of this shift
$350.45
7.5 paid hours at $41.72 an hour, plus super.
- Wages
- $312.90
- Penalty over ordinary rate
- $104.32
- Super (12%)
- $37.55
Breakdown
- Hourly rate (150% of $27.81)
- $41.72
- Wages (7.5 hours)
- $312.90
- Same hours at the ordinary rate
- $208.58
- Super guarantee (12%)
- $37.55
- Total cost
- $350.45
- Ordinary hours at one rate. Overtime, allowances, minimum engagement and a shift crossing midnight are not handled.
- Penalty rate is the General Retail Industry Award 2020 default. Other awards differ: check the penalty rates clause in yours.
An estimate, not legal advice. Your award or agreement sets the rates.
How this works
You enter the rates from your award. The calculator does the arithmetic and shows what the penalty adds.
- Hourly rate: minimum hourly rate × penalty percentage, rounded to the cent (the way award pay tables round).
- Wages: hourly rate × paid hours (shift length less any unpaid break).
- Penalty cost: wages less the same hours at the ordinary weekday rate (100%, or 125% for a casual).
- On-costs: 12% super guarantee on the wages, plus workers compensation at your premium rate if you enter one.
The defaults are the General Retail Industry Award 2020 rates from 1 July 2026: $27.81 an hour for Retail Employee Level 1, and the Table 12 penalty percentages. Check your award before relying on them for any other award or classification.
Not included: overtime, allowances, minimum engagement rules, payroll tax, and junior or apprentice rates.
Legal basis
- General Retail Industry Award 2020, cl 22.1 Table 12 (penalty rates) and cl 17.1 (minimum rates)
- Fair Work Commission: find your award
- ATO: what payments are qualifying earnings
Checked against these sources on 5 November 2026. Spotted a figure that looks wrong? Tell us.
Questions
Where do I find the right penalty rate?
In the penalty rates clause of the modern award (or enterprise agreement) that covers the employee. Awards set penalty rates as a percentage of the minimum hourly rate, often with a separate column for casuals. The defaults here are from the General Retail Industry Award 2020, so change them if a different award applies.
What are the General Retail Award penalty rates?
For ordinary hours, full-time and part-time employees get 125% after 6 pm Monday to Friday, 125% on Saturday, 150% on Sunday and 225% on a public holiday. Casuals get 150%, 150%, 175% and 250%, which already include the 25% casual loading.
Should I add the casual loading on top of a casual penalty rate?
Not when the award gives a casual column, as the General Retail Award does: those percentages already include the loading. Some awards work differently, so read how your award applies the loading to penalty rates.
Is super payable on penalty rates?
Yes for ordinary hours. Shift penalties, including public holiday penalties, are qualifying earnings, so the 12% super guarantee applies. Overtime is generally not qualifying earnings.
Does the calculator handle overtime or a shift across two days?
No. It costs ordinary hours at one rate. For a shift that crosses midnight or moves into overtime, cost each part separately at its own rate.
Related tools
All toolsQuestions the calculator can’t answer?
Workfloor answers pay, award, leave and termination questions for your team, with the Fair Work Act section or award clause behind each answer.