Banking, Finance and Insurance Award: Pay Rates, Classifications, and Obligations

As of 23 January 2026, the Banking, Finance and Insurance Award updated definitions, superannuation, and workplace delegates’ rights. Also, from 1 July 2025, the Award’s minimum pay rates and allowances increased by 3.5%.

In this guide, we walk through who this Award covers, how to determine your staff members’ classification levels, and the most important pay and allowance rules.

The Banking and Finance Award: A Quick Summary for Busy Managers 

Short on time? Here are the essentials:

The Banking, Finance and Insurance Award [MA000019] sets minimum employment standards and pay rates for workers in banking, lending, insurance, superannuation, and related financial services.

To stay compliant, consider the following:

• Awards coverage: Whether the employee is covered by this Award (rather than, e.g., the Contract Call Centres Award, which can overlap depending on the main duties).
• Employee type: Whether the employee is full-time, part-time, or casual.
• Employee classification: Whether the employee fits the right classification level (Levels 1–6), based on what the role actually involves day to day.
• Hours and timing of work: Whether work happens outside ordinary hours, on public holidays, or as shiftwork, because higher rates usually apply.

Watch out for these:

One easy “gotcha” is that casual employees must be engaged and paid for a minimum of 2 consecutive hours each time they’re required to attend work, even if the actual work performed is less than that.

For this Award, most compliance issues stem from incorrect classifications, missed allowances, and miscalculation of shift penalty and public holiday rates for casuals. 

Coming up: Award dates and deadlines you need to know

Award Basics 

The Banking, Finance and Insurance Award 2020 sets minimum pay rates and working conditions for employees in Australia’s banking, finance, and insurance industry. It typically covers roles like:

• Tellers
• Customer service representatives
• Loan processing officers
• Claims officers
• Payroll clerks
• Account managers
• Credit analysts
• HR officers at banks
• Learning and development officers at insurance companies

It covers the practical minimum rules employers rely on, including types of employment, ordinary hours and breaks, minimum rates, penalty rates, overtime, and allowances.

The Award works alongside the National Employment Standards (NES) (the minimum standards for Australian employees).

Who’s covered under the Banking, Finance, and Insurance Award?

You’re generally covered by the Award if you work in the banking, finance, or insurance industry. That includes businesses that provide financial products, financial services, or related work.

Businesses covered

Employers involved in the banking, finance, and insurance industry, such as:

• Banks, credit unions, and building societies
• Lending, loaning, and credit providers
• Investment, finance, and superannuation businesses
• Insurance businesses
• Credit or charge card institutions, agribusiness, and wool broking
• Financial intermediaries, trustee creditors, agencies, and money market dealers
• Businesses that provide related services such as trading, debt recovery, broking, valuation, financial consulting, money changing, data processing, telephone enquiries, and transaction processing.

Employees covered

Common examples include:

• Tellers and customer service employees
• Loans, lending, and credit employees
• Claims and insurance employees
• Payroll, admin, and support employees
• Trainees working in the banking, finance, and insurance industry
• Analysts, account managers, and financial services employees

The Award may also cover labour-hire employees placed in banking, finance, or insurance workplaces, plus trainees employed through a group training employer and placed in this industry.

Who isn’t covered under the Banking, Finance, and Insurance Award?

The Award doesn’t cover:

• Contract call centres and their employees (covered by the Contract Call Centres Award 2020).
• Employees covered by a State reference public sector modern award (e.g., Victorian Public Service Award 2016) and their employers.

Coverage self-check: Does the Banking and Finance Award apply?

To see if the Award applies to your business and employees, check the following statements:

• I operate a business in the banking, finance, and insurance industry or provide related services to it.
• The business is involved in banking, lending, credit, investment, superannuation, insurance, debt recovery, financial consulting, data processing, telephone enquiries, or transaction processing.
• The employee’s day-to-day duties match a classification in this Award.
• The employee’s main work isn’t covered by a different award that’s more appropriate to the work they do and the environment they normally work in.
• The employee isn’t working in a contract call centre covered by the Contract Call Centres Award 2020.
• There’s no enterprise agreement, enterprise instrument, or state public sector award covering the employee.

If most of these apply, the employee is likely covered by the Banking, Finance and Insurance Award 2020.

If you’re still unsure, check the Award wording and run the role through Fair Work’s Award Finder.

Determining Banking and Finance Award [MA000019] Requirements 

Under the Banking, Finance, and Insurance Award, employees are grouped in 2 ways:

• Employment type (full-time, part-time, and casual). 
• Classification (the role’s day-to-day duties, plus the skill, knowledge, and responsibility involved). 

Employment types

The award uses full-time, part-time, and casual as employment designations.

Full-time

A full-time employee works 38 ordinary hours per week on average.

Ordinary hours are worked between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm, Monday to Friday, and between 8.00 am and 12.00 noon on Saturday. On no more than 1 night per week, Monday to Friday, ordinary hours may extend to 9.00 pm.

They’re permanent employees and receive the usual entitlements, like paid leave.

Part-time

A part-time employee works a regular schedule of fewer than 38 ordinary weekly hours. They’re paid the minimum hourly rate for each ordinary hour worked.

They’re subject to the same working conditions as full-time staff, but key entitlements are calculated based on the hours they work (referred to as pro rata).

Casual

These employees receive an hourly rate plus a 25% casual loading for each ordinary hour (rather than paid entitlements such as annual leave).

When a casual employee must attend work, the minimum engagement is 2 continuous hours.

Classifications and levels

The Banking and Finance Award has 6 classification levels.

Levels group employees by work complexity and skill level, knowledge, and responsibility the job requires. 

Here’s how the typical roles and duties break down, using Levels 1–4 as examples:

Banking, Finance, and Insurance Award Pay Rates and Entitlements Overview

Under the Banking, Finance and Insurance Award 2020, employees must get at least the minimum pay and conditions, including the key rules on ordinary hours, overtime, penalty rates, allowances, and more.

Minimum base rates

Minimum base rates are the minimum ordinary pay rates an employer must legally pay under the Award for each classification level.

Let’s look at the minimum base rates for Levels 1 to 4 as an example:

Let’s put the minimum rate into practice, using a Level 1 employee.

If they work full-time, they’d earn the minimum weekly rate of $978.20, or $50,866 per year. 

If they work 20 hours per week part-time, they’d receive $25.74 per hour, totalling $514.80 (20 × $25.74).

If they are a casual employee, they’d earn the hourly base rate of $25.74 and a 25% casual loading ($6.44 per hour), bringing their rate to $32.18 per hour and $643.60 per week (20 × $32.18).

For the full list of Banking, Finance, and Insurance Award pay rates, check the Banking, Finance, and Insurance Award Pay Guide.

Penalty rates

Penalty rates apply when an employee works certain hours or days, like public holidays or some shift hours.

Public holidays:

​​If an employee works on a public holiday or a substituted public holiday, they must be paid 250% of their minimum hourly rate (full-time and part-time), or 275% for casual employees.

They must also be paid for at least 4 hours, even if they work less than that.

Shiftwork:

Shiftwork is when an employee works scheduled hours outside the usual daytime hours, such as early morning, afternoon, or night shifts (e.g., 2.00 pm to 10.00 pm, afternoon shift).

Below are examples of shift types and their applicable rates:

Let’s say a Level 2 employee is paid $28.12 per ordinary hour.

• If they work an afternoon shift (e.g., 2.00 pm to 10.00 pm), they’re paid 120%, so it’s $33.74/hour ($28.12 × 120%). This applies to both full-time and part-time employees.
• For casuals, you don’t add the 25% loading to the shift penalty or public holiday rate. You just pay the casual rate.
  • For example, an afternoon shift is paid $40.77/hour (28.12 × 145%), and on a public holiday, $77.33/hour (28.12 × 275%), because that rate already includes the loading.

For details of penalty rates (including shift hours), refer to the full Award.

Overtime rules and rates

Full-time employees are entitled to overtime (extra pay) when they work outside the Award’s ordinary hours. For part-time employees, it applies when they work more than their agreed-upon hours.

Note: If the public holiday hours are overtime, you pay the public holiday overtime rate, not the rate that would apply to ordinary hours worked on a public holiday (i.e., penalty rate).

Now let’s understand how overtime rates work.

Let’s say a Level 3 employee earns $29.70 per ordinary hour. 

If they work 2 hours of overtime on a weekday, you pay 150% of the rate, which is $44.55/hour ($29.70 × 1.5). After the first 3 overtime hours on that day, any further overtime (Monday to Saturday) is paid at 200%, which is $59.40/hour ($29.70 × 2).

For casuals, overtime is paid at the casual overtime rate (which already includes the 25% casual loading), so you don’t add the loading again.

For more overtime rules (including break after overtime and taking time off instead of overtime pay), it’s worth checking the Award directly.

Breaks

Breaks are short periods during the workday when employees can rest or have a meal.

For more break rules (including breaks during shiftwork), refer to the Award.

Allowances

Under the Banking and Finance Award, allowances fall into 2 types: wage-related allowances (extra pay for certain responsibilities or working conditions) and expense-related allowances (reimbursements for certain work-related costs).

Let’s look at a few examples of wage-related and expense-related allowances.

Wage-related allowances:

Expense-related allowances:

Check the Award for the complete list of allowances.

Leave entitlements

Most leave is dictated by the NES and applies regardless of the Award. The Banking, Finance and Insurance Award has extra rules (mainly around annual leave payments and how annual leave can be managed).

Annual leave

Let’s look at the key information for annual leave:

• Who gets annual leave: Full-time employees receive 4 weeks of paid annual leave. Part-time employees receive the same entitlement based on hours worked. Casual employees don’t get paid leave (they’re paid casual loading instead).
• Annual leave loading: On top of annual leave pay, the employer must pay the greater of:
  • 17.5% loading, or what the employee would have earned in shift loadings and weekend penalty rates if they weren’t on leave.
• Annual leave in advance: Annual leave may be taken early with a written agreement specifying the amount of leave and the start date.
• Cashing out annual leave: Only by written agreement, and the employee must keep at least 4 weeks accrued. Up to 2 weeks can be cashed out in a 12-month period.
• Excessive leave accruals: The Award has extra rules for managing large annual leave balances. For non-shift workers, “excessive” means more than 8 weeks of accrued paid annual leave.

For full details (including shutdowns and any shiftworker-specific rules), refer to the Award.

Other NES leave

The Award points back to the NES for other common leave entitlements, including:

• Personal or carer’s leave and compassionate leave
• Parental leave and related entitlements
• Community service leave
• Family and domestic violence leave

How To Determine Banking, Finance, and Insurance Award Coverage 

Getting coverage right matters because it tells you which minimum pay rates and conditions you legally must follow, and helps you avoid underpaying staff and the financial and legal consequences that can follow.

To see how the rules stack up in real life, here’s a simple banking and finance scenario:

Banking and Finance Award [MA000019]: A practical, real-world example

A 36-year-old full-time lending officer:

• Reviews loan applications, prepares reports, and manages customer relationships.
• Works Monday to Friday, 8.00 am to 4.30 pm (including a 30-minute unpaid meal break), totalling 8 ordinary hours.
• Stays back 4 extra hours on a weekday, finishing at 8.30 pm.

How the Award applies:

• Coverage: Covered under the Banking, Finance, and Insurance Award because the business provides lending and credit services.
• Classification and minimum rate: Based on their duties, the employee is treated as Level 4, with a minimum rate of $31.19 per hour.
• Overtime: The extra 4 hours are overtime. The first 3 hours are paid at 150%, and the remaining 1 hour is paid at 200%.
• Meal allowance: Because the overtime extends beyond 6.00 pm, a $21.27 meal allowance applies.

Pay summary:

Common scenarios and compliance tips

Get it right with these key checks for common situations.

1. A finance business hires a “team leader” who still mostly does frontline customer or admin work

Key checks:

• Check whether the employee is still mainly doing award-covered work, rather than a very senior or executive role (e.g., CEO) that would usually sit outside award coverage.
• Classify based on actual duties (e.g., processing loan applications and analysing credit data usually point to Level 3 or Level 4, not Level 2).
• If they regularly work extra hours, check whether overtime or penalty rates also apply.

2. A business runs extended hours with a mix of full-time, part-time, and casual staff

Key checks:

• Confirm the correct employment type for each employee.
• Make sure casuals are paid the casual rate, which already includes the 25% casual loading.
• If part-time employees work more than their agreed-upon hours, overtime may apply.
• If employees work early morning, afternoon, or night shifts, apply the appropriate shift-work penalty rates (e.g., 120% for the afternoon shift for full-time or part-time shiftworkers and 145% for casuals).

3. A bank or insurer pays a flat annual salary to a full-time employee

Key checks:

• Put the salary arrangement in writing and be clear about which award entitlements it covers (e.g., minimum rates, overtime, etc.).
• Check that the salary isn’t less than what the employee would have earned under the Award.
• Make sure the salary includes the 17.5% annual leave loading (or the applicable shift or penalty rate if that works out higher).
• If the employee has built up more than 8 weeks of annual leave, follow the award’s rules for managing excessive leave balances.

Common employer mistakes to avoid

Watch for these common errors when applying the Award:

• Placing someone at the wrong level (relying on job titles rather than matching actual duties, skills, and responsibilities to the classification level, e.g., an employee called a “Team Leader” who mainly answers customer enquiries and processes routine transactions may sit at Level 3, not Level 5).
• Missing casual conditions (using the wrong casual rate for the time worked, or overlooking the 2-hour minimum engagement per shift).
• Not checking when hours turn into overtime (extra time becomes overtime once work goes beyond the employee’s ordinary hours).
• Forgetting extra payments (not paying or clearly listing allowances like the first aid allowance, stand-by allowance, or meal allowance when the conditions are met).

Glossary

Loading

An extra percentage paid on top of the minimum rate (e.g., 25% casual loading instead of paid leave).

Minimum engagement

The minimum amount of time an employee must be paid for each shift, even if they work less than that (e.g., if the minimum engagement is 2 hours and someone works 1 hour, they’re still paid for 2 hours).

Ordinary hours

The standard hours an employee is rostered to work at their minimum/base rate (before overtime applies).

Pro-rata

A proportional amount based on hours worked (e.g., part-time leave and pay are calculated based on the hours worked).

Roster

A work schedule that sets out an employee’s shifts, start and finish times, and days they’ll work.

Shiftwork

Work scheduled outside the usual daytime hours, such as early morning, afternoon, or night shifts (e.g., a 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm afternoon shift).

Resources and Links

For official details and templates, see:

• Banking, Finance and Insurance Award [MA000019]: Full Award text.
• Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS): Summary of key workplace rights and your obligations under the NES. 
• Fair Work Record-Keeping Guidance: What to keep for pay records and payslips, plus templates. 
• Protections at Work: Learn about workplace rights and protections against unfair treatment.
• Annual Leave Cash-Out Agreement: Template for recording an agreement to cash out annual leave. 
• Annual Leave In Advance Agreement: Template for agreeing to annual leave in advance.

FAQs 

What is the Banking, Finance, and Insurance Award?

The Banking, Finance and Insurance Award 2020 [MA000019] sets minimum pay and conditions for staff in the banking, finance, and insurance industry, including banking, lending, credit, investment, superannuation, insurance, and related services such as debt recovery and financial consulting.

What are the minimum pay rates?

Minimum pay rates vary by employee classification level. Under the current pay guide that applies from the first full pay period on or after 28 November 2025, for example, a Level 1 employee is paid at least $25.74 per hour, while a Level 4 employee is paid at least $31.19 per hour. For the latest rates, use the Banking, Finance, and Insurance Award Pay Guide.

Are accountants covered by this Award? 

Not always. Accountants employed by accountancy firms aren’t covered by this Award. However, an accountant employed directly by a bank, insurer, or financial services business may be covered, depending on the nature of the business and the work performed.

Disclaimer

The information provided here is a summary only and does not constitute legal advice. While we have made every effort to ensure the information provided is up to date and reliable, we cannot guarantee its completeness, accuracy, or applicability to your specific situation. Laws change frequently, and outcomes may vary depending on your business circumstances. We recommend consulting a qualified employment lawyer before making decisions related to workforce management. Please note that we cannot be held liable for any actions taken or not taken based on the information presented on this website.