Joinery and Building Trades Award: Pay Rates, Classifications, and Obligations

As of January 2026, key updates to workplace delegates’ rights have expanded who they can represent and how they communicate, creating important compliance implications for employers.

This article breaks down the Joinery and Building Trades Award 2020, covering pay rates, penalties, allowances, leave entitlements, and other essentials to help employers stay compliant.

The Joinery Award: A Quick Summary for Busy Managers

Get an overview of the Joinery Award in under a minute right here:

• The Joinery Award [MA000029], aka the Joinery and Building Trades Award 2020, sets out minimum entitlements (such as pay rates and allowances) for employees in the joinery and building trades. It’s managed by the Fair Work Commission (FWC).
• The Award explains critical factors, such as:
  • Awards coverage: Which employees are covered by the Joinery Award and not another similar Award (someone doing cabinetry on a construction site, for example, would actually be covered by the Building and Construction Award [MA000020]).
  • Employee type: This includes full-time employees (working 38 hours per week), part-time employees (whose regular hours make up less than 38 hours per week), and casual employees (those working without a guarantee of ongoing work).
  • Employee classification: Which class, and therefore pay band, employees fall into (there are 7 “levels,” or classes, in the Joinery Award).
  • Hours and timing of work: Which working hours count as “ordinary hours” (contracted hours up to 38 hours per week), which count as “overtime” (hours worked beyond ordinary hours), and which count as “penalty” (hours worked at non-standard or inconvenient times, like public holidays).
• Not everyone who works in joinery or building is covered by the Joinery and Building Trades Award. Construction workers, for example, will likely be covered by the Building and Construction Award. Conversely, someone working in a joinery and building business might not be covered (for example, admin workers).

Award Basics

The Joinery and Building Trades Award 2020 outlines minimum employee entitlements for workers in the joinery and building trade industry in Australia—that means businesses that provide joinery work, shopfitting, prefabricated building, stonemasonry, and more.

The Award consists of 8 parts and over 37 sections. Each part provides detailed requirements that all covered employers must provide to their employees. That includes minimum hourly pay rates, overtime pay rates, workplace allowances, break rules, leave rules, and more.

Who’s covered under the Joinery Award?

The first thing you need to establish is whether or not the Joinery Award covers your employees. This is actually one of the most common mistakes—assuming the Joinery Award covers all tradespersons. 

Some of the main employees the Joinery and Building Trades Award covers are:

• Joiners
• Carpenters
• Plasterers
• Painters
• Shopfitters
• Assemblers
• Machine operators
• Stonemasons
• Carvers
• Glaziers

However, these employees are only covered if the business’s main purpose is to provide these services (not if they’re incidental to another industry, like construction). Having one of these job titles doesn’t automatically mean you’re covered. The Fair Work Ombudsman gives a full breakdown.

Labour hire businesses that provide workers in these areas are also usually covered by this Award.

Who isn’t covered under the Joinery Award?

The Joinery Award doesn’t cover all employees in a joinery or building trades business. Some examples of employees not covered would be:

• Glass manufacturers (likely covered by the Manufacturing Award)
• In-built furniture manufacturers or cabinetry construction workers (likely covered by the Timber Industry Award)
• Clerks and administrative workers (likely covered by the Clerks—Private Sector Award)

The Joinery and Building Trades Award has a limited scope, so you should always check which Award applies to your workers before proceeding. You can use our handy checklist below to help:

Coverage self-check: Does the Joinery Award apply?

Go through these statements and ask if they apply to your business and the employee:

• I operate a business in the joinery and building trades industry, including joinery work, shopfitting, prefabricated building, stonemasonry, glass and glazing contracting, and glass and glazing work.
• The employee’s actual duties fit those of a joiner, carpenter, signwriter, painter, plasterer, stonemason, carver, letter cutter, or other classified joinery/building-trades employees.
• My business doesn’t fit the industries above, but the employee still performs one of the named occupations, and there’s no other modern award with a more appropriate classification for that work.
• The employee isn’t covered by the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020, because they’re not primarily involved in the construction, alteration, or installation of cabinetry in an on-site work environment.
• The employee doesn’t perform clerical or administrative work as a primary function.
• There’s no enterprise agreement (EA) or enterprise award covering the employee. (An EA is a set of employee entitlements agreed between a business and its employees, usually superseding the Modern Award.)

Did you answer “yes” to each of these? If so, the Joinery and Building Trades Award 2020 likely applies.

Coming up: Award dates and deadlines you need to know

Determining the Joinery Award [MA000029] Requirements

Figuring out whether or not the Joinery Award applies is only the first step. From there, you have to determine each employee’s exact minimum entitlements.

The Award separates employees into employment types (full-time, part-time, and casual) and classification levels (1–7). Classification levels describe the duties, skills, experience, and responsibilities of a role, and determine the applicable minimum pay rate.

Employment types

The Joinery Award outlines 3 main employment types: full-time, part-time, and casual. 

• Full-time: A contracted employee who works 38 hours/week on average.
• Part-time: A contracted employee working up to 38 hours/week with regular shifts. Employers must give part-time workers at least 3 consecutive hours in any shift.
• Casual: Workers employed without a guarantee of ongoing work (often on a temporary or seasonal basis). Casuals must receive at least 7.6 hours of work per day and also a 25% casual loading on top of the minimum rate. This is to compensate for the lack of leave entitlement that their full-time and part-time counterparts receive.

Apprentices and trainees are also included here and are treated as full-time unless explicitly categorised as part-time or casual.

• Apprentices: Both young and adult apprentices (usually paid training of 1–6 years).
• Trainees: Workers completing a short training period (6 weeks–6 months).

Classification levels

Each employee, regardless of job title or age, is classified into 1 of 7 levels. These classifications reflect the employee’s actual duties and level of experience and determine their minimum pay rate in the Joinery and Building Trades Award pay guide.

Joinery and Building Trades Award Pay Rates and Entitlements Overview

In this section, we’ll break down the latest Joinery and Building Trades Award pay rates, including ordinary hours, overtime, and penalty rates. We’ll also cover some of the main allowances and leave entitlements.

Minimum base rates

The following minimum pay rates apply to contracted hours (or ordinary hours) worked by full-time, part-time, and casual employees (excluding apprentices):

To see how this Joinery Award pay guide works in practice, let’s look at the minimum rates for a Level 3 full-time, part-time, and casual worker:

• The full-time worker must be paid at least $25.85 per hour. For an average of 38 hours per week, the weekly minimum is $982.40.
• If the part-time worker is engaged 20 hours/week, they must also be paid at least $25.85/hour. So they’d earn 20 x $25.85 or $517/week.
• The casual employee gets the same minimum hourly rate ($25.85), plus a 25% casual loading on top, so their minimum hourly rate is $32.31.

For full details on apprentice minimum rates, explore sections 19.5 and 19.6 in the Joinery Award.

Penalty rates

Under this Award, penalty rates apply to shiftworkers (i.e., those regularly rostered to work non-standard hours, like early mornings or nights).

Shift penalties depend on whether an employee works 5 continuous weekday shifts (Monday to Friday). If they do, they’re a continuous shiftworker and are paid:

• 150% for afternoon and night shifts
• 125% for early morning and early afternoon shifts

If they work fewer than 5 shifts, higher overtime-style rates apply:

• 150% for the first 2 hours, then 200% after that

Here’s an example of how to calculate penalty rates:

A Level 4 full-time shiftworker on $26.70/hour has worked continuously for 5 shifts, Monday to Friday. They’re now doing a shift that starts at 3:00 pm and finishes at 12:00 am.

• The 12:00 am finish time makes the entire shift a “night shift.”
• The night shift rate is 150%, so 150% of $26.70 is $40.05/hour. For this particular shift (3:00 pm–12:00 am, the employee would earn $360.45.

For non-shiftworkers, (those who work standard, consistent hours, usually Monday to Friday), weekends and public holidays are treated as overtime because the work falls outside ordinary hours.

Overtime rules and rates

Overtime rates apply to all hours worked beyond contracted hours and are based on whether the employee is a shiftworker or a non-shiftworker. Note that casual employees are entitled to the same overtime pay structure as full- and part-time employees, but with an extra 25% casual loading on top.

For shiftworkers, overtime rates are:

For non-shiftworkers, overtime rates are:

Breaks

All employees in Australia are entitled to rest breaks under NES guidelines. However, some break rules are specific to each Modern Award. 

Here’s an overview of the current break rules in the Joinery and Building Trades Award 2020:

There are a few additional break rules for glass and glazing employees in the Joinery Award, so be sure to check them out if applicable.

Allowances

Various employees in the joinery and building trades industry may also be entitled to allowances. These are extra payments that compensate for personal expenses related to work, harsh conditions, or travel.

There are around 35 different allowances in the Joinery Award. Here are the most common ones:

This list is not comprehensive. There are many other allowances in the Joinery Award, such as for asbestos, cold work, dirty work, and roof repairs. Explore these in full in section 21 of the Award.

Leave entitlements

Leave is governed by the NES, not the specific Modern Award, so it’s generally the same across industries. Here’s what you need to know at a glance:

How To Determine Joinery Award Coverage

Finding out if the Joinery Award applies and then applying the correct classification to each worker is one of the toughest, most time-consuming parts of the Award. However, it’s also one of the most important.

Below, you’ll find some practical tips and examples you can use to streamline the process:

Joinery Award [MA000029]: A practical, real-world example

A business in the joinery/building trades makes and installs custom timber shopfronts and reception counters. It hires Sam, a full-time shiftworker who has completed a joinery apprenticeship and now works independently, reading plans, machining components, assembling cabinetry, and installing finished joinery. 

Sam is covered by the Joinery and Building Trades Award because his duties fit that Award’s industry coverage.

He’s classified as Level 5 because he’s a trade-qualified carpenter and/or joiner. This means his minimum hourly rate is $28.12, and he’s entitled to penalty rates, overtime rates, leave, and certain allowances.

During a busy fit-out, Sam’s team needs to install a reception counter in a commercial building before other trades arrive. To accommodate this, Sam works an early morning shift from 5:00 am to 1:00 pm.

Because Sam has worked 5 continuous shifts from Monday to Friday, he qualifies as a continuous shiftworker under the Award.

• This shift is classified as an early morning shift
• He is therefore paid 125% of his ordinary hourly rate (125% of $28.12 = $35.15/hour)

In addition, Sam is entitled to the industry allowance, which compensates for the general conditions of working in the joinery and building trades industry.

• The allowance is $40.04/week
• It’s paid separately from wages and doesn’t increase with penalties or overtime

Common scenarios and compliance tips

Here are some common situations employers find themselves in, and what to do in each scenario:

Key checks

• Coverage under the Joinery Award likely applies if the business is in the joinery industry and the employee falls within an award classification level.
• Classify by the duties actually performed, not the job title. A worker who mainly performs assembly or machine operations may be at a different level than a basic factory hand.
• If the employee’s role has shifted in practice, and they actually belong to a higher classification level based on duties, update payroll to reflect the applicable base rate.
• Check whether allowances apply on top of the base rate. In this case, the industry allowance would likely apply.

Key checks

• Check each employee’s primary duties and work environment, and test whether the work is really on-site construction/alteration/installation of cabinetry. 
• If it is, the Building and Construction General On-site Award may be the more appropriate award, not the Joinery Award. This is because the Building and Construction Award covers businesses that construct, alter, or install cabinetry on a construction site.
• Don’t assume workshop staff (cabinet manufacturers) are under the same award as site installers.

Key checks

• Confirm the employee is genuinely engaged as a casual in writing, with the classification and rate identified at engagement.
• Be aware of the Joinery Award’s unusually long minimum daily engagement for casuals: 7.6 hours. (A short call-in can still create a much larger minimum payment obligation.)
• When overtime or public holiday work is performed, make sure the casual loading is added to the relevant penalty/overtime rate.

Common employer mistakes to avoid

There are a number of mistakes that crop up and often catch employers out. Modern Awards are complicated, but a proper process can keep you out of hot water.

Here are some common mistakes to keep an eye out for:

• Using the wrong Award: It’s easy to accidentally apply the Joinery Award for work like on-site cabinetry installation, in-built furniture manufacturing, or clerical/admin work. Other Awards, like the Building and Construction Award, often apply instead.
• Relying on job titles instead of actual duties: Many employers classify employees based on their job titles (e.g., assuming a “supervisor” is Level 7, or there’s only one “apprentice” band). Remember: classification is based on actual duties performed.
• Missing the casual minimum engagement: Casual employees must generally be engaged for at least 7.6 hours per day. Many employers forget about this and roster too few hours.

• Ignoring labour hire coverage: Labour hire is often not covered by the Award of the industry they’re working in, but in the case of the Joinery Award, they are. Employers should take care to apply the correct Award to labour hire workers.
• Confusing penalty rates with overtime: In the Joinery Award, weekend work for non-shiftworkers is generally treated as overtime rather than a penalty rate, whereas for shiftworkers, weekend work may form part of ordinary hours and attract shift penalties instead.

Glossary

Allowance

An allowance is an extra payment made to employees to compensate for expenses or harsh working conditions. For example, an employee who uses their own tools could get $9.50 to $39.60 extra per week.

Casual loading

An extra payment made on top of the minimum hourly rate to compensate for a lack of leave entitlement; only available to casual employees.

Non-shiftworker

An employee who works regular daytime hours and is paid overtime, not shift penalties, for work outside ordinary hours, including weekends and public holidays.

Ordinary hours

The hours worked according to the employee’s contract (38 hours a week for full-time employees and up to 38 hours for part-time employees).

Shiftworker

An employee who works on a roster that includes early mornings, afternoons, nights, or rotating shifts, and is entitled to shift penalties for work outside ordinary hours.

Resources and Links

• Joinery Award [MA000029]
• Joinery and Building Trades Award 2020
• FWC Joinery and Building Trades Award 2020
• Downloadable Pay Guide

FAQs

What is the Joinery Award in Australia?

The Joinery Award [MA000029], also known as the Joinery and Building Trades Award 2020 and the Building and Joinery Award, outlines the minimum entitlements for certain employees in the joinery and building trades industries in Australia. It covers minimum hourly rates, allowances, and more.

What is the minimum wage for a joiner?

The minimum wage for a joiner in Australia varies based on the joiner’s level of experience. For a joiner who’s completed their training, the minimum hourly rate is $24.95, though it could be higher. For apprentices, the rate is lower. 

How much do qualified cabinet makers make in Australia?

It depends on the cabinet maker’s level of experience and the Modern Award they’re covered by (if they’re working on a construction site, they may be covered by the Building and Construction Award). However, under the Joinery Award, they could make between $24.28 and $29.88 an hour.

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.