Grand final Sunday, clocks forward and a public holiday Monday: what your 3 to 5 October shifts are worth
Three shifts over the first weekend of October pay a casual Level 2 food and beverage attendant $1,340.46, for 24 hours actually on the floor. The same 25 clock hours mid-week pay $846.25. Here's what each day is worth under MA000009, the one hour you get paid for without working it, and the $54.16 difference between taking grand final Sunday at a pub and taking it at a restaurant.
Three shifts over the first weekend of October are worth $1,340.46 to a casual Level 2 food and beverage attendant, and you only have to be on the floor for 24 hours to earn it. Spread the same 25 clock hours across ordinary weekday day shifts and they pay $846.25. That $494.21 gap is the entire argument for putting your hand up now, before the roster goes out.
Saturday 3 October is an ordinary Saturday. Sunday 4 October is grand final day at Accor Stadium, kick-off 7:30pm, and it's the morning the clocks jump forward at 2am, which lands in the middle of Saturday night's close. Monday 5 October is Labour Day. Three pay rules on one long weekend, and most casuals will work one of the three days without noticing the other two pay better.
Short version: for a casual under the Hospitality Award (MA000009), Saturday pays 150% of your base rate, Sunday 175% and a public holiday 250%. Monday 5 October 2026 is a public holiday in NSW, the ACT, South Australia and Queensland. Work overnight when the clocks go forward at 2am on Sunday 4 October and Fair Work's default is that you're paid 'by the clock': an hour less on the floor, same pay. General information, not legal or financial advice. Rates apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
What each of the three days is worth
Every penalty rate in the Hospitality Award is a percentage of your base rate, and your ordinary casual hour is 125% of that base. Divide one into the other and the days line up as clean multiples of a normal hour: Saturday is 1.2, Sunday is 1.4, a public holiday exactly 2 (150%, 175% and 250%, against your ordinary 125%). That holds at every classification, whether you're a Level 1 or a Level 5.
| Casual classification | Ordinary weekday hour | Sat 3 Oct | Sun 4 Oct | Mon 5 Oct (public holiday) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 food and beverage attendant grade 1 | $33.05 | $39.66 | $46.27 | $66.10 |
| Level 2 food and beverage attendant grade 2 | $33.85 | $40.62 | $47.39 | $67.70 |
| Level 3 food and beverage attendant grade 3 | $34.96 | $41.96 | $48.95 | $69.93 |
| Level 4 (tradesperson) grade 4 | $36.81 | $44.18 | $51.54 | $73.63 |
| Level 5 food and beverage supervisor | $39.13 | $46.95 | $54.78 | $78.25 |
A Labour Day hour is worth two ordinary weekday hours. Not roughly two. 250% against 125%, at every level in the award.
One thing to strike off before you start counting. The award's evening loading of $2.95 an hour and its night loading of $4.42 an hour apply Monday to Friday only. A 2am finish on a Saturday or Sunday earns the weekend rate and nothing on top, because penalty rates under clause 29.3 aren't cumulative: you get the highest one that applies, never two added together.
The hour you get paid for and don't work
At 2am on Sunday 4 October, NSW clocks move forward to 3am. If you're mid shift, that hour doesn't happen. Fair Work's position is that unless your award, agreement or contract says otherwise, you're paid 'by the clock': a shift rostered 8pm to 4am is eight hours on paper, so you're paid eight and stand on the floor for seven. The Hospitality Award has no daylight saving clause anywhere in it.
Here's the part nobody mentions. The hour that vanishes sits on the wrong side of midnight, which makes it a Sunday hour. For a casual Level 2 that's $47.39 paid for time you weren't in the building. It's the only hour of the year that behaves like that, and it exists only on the overnight shift.
Three shifts, 25 hours on the clock, 24 on the floor
Here's the stretch priced out for a casual Level 2 food and beverage attendant at a Sydney pub. Nothing exotic: one Saturday close, one grand final Sunday running an hour past midnight, one Labour Day day shift.
| Shift | How it splits | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| Sat 3 Oct, 8pm to 4am | 4 hrs Saturday at $40.62, then 4 clock hours of Sunday at $47.39, one of which the clock ate | $352.04 |
| Sun 4 Oct, 4pm to 1am | 8 hrs Sunday at $47.39, then 1 hr of public holiday at $67.70 after midnight | $446.82 |
| Mon 5 Oct, 11am to 7pm | 8 hrs public holiday at $67.70 | $541.60 |
| Total | 25 hours on the clock, 24 actually worked | $1,340.46 |
That's $55.85 for every hour you're genuinely there, against $33.85 for a Tuesday lunch. The Labour Day day shift on its own out-earns the whole Saturday night. Watch what happens at midnight on the Sunday, too: the rate jumps from $47.39 to $67.70 with no change in the work. Clause 29.4 gives a casual a minimum 2 hours' pay for a public holiday, but hours worked before midnight in the same continuous shift count towards that minimum, so a one hour spill past midnight pays as one hour, not two.
On Sunday, a pub pays more than a restaurant
Two venues, same suburb, same job, different award. Pubs, hotels and clubs sit under the Hospitality Award, where every casual gets 175% on a Sunday. A standalone restaurant or café sits under the Restaurant Industry Award (MA000119), where a casual from Introductory to Level 2 gets 150% on a Sunday, the same as Saturday. Only Level 3 and up get 175%.
On an eight hour grand final Sunday that's $379.12 at the pub and $324.96 at the restaurant. $54.16 for identical work. The Monday is a wash, since both awards pay casuals 250% on a public holiday. If you can only take one Sunday shift, take the one behind a bar. Our guide to the hospitality awards sorts out which one covers your venue, and there's more in our breakdown of public holiday pay.
Four things that decide whether you can actually take all three
- The 10 hour break. Clause 15.5(e) requires a minimum break of 10 hours between finishing ordinary hours one day and starting them the next. Finish at 4am on the Sunday and you can't start again before 2pm, which kills the overnight plus a grand final lunch service. In the example above, the 1am finish makes 11am the earliest legal Monday start, which is exactly where it sits. Same rule as working across midnight.
- The 12 hour and 38 hour caps. A casual can be engaged for a maximum of 12 hours a day or shift, and 38 hours a week, or an average of 38 over a roster cycle of up to four weeks. Go past either and clause 11.4 puts those hours on overtime rates.
- Which pay week your Monday falls in. On a Monday to Sunday cycle, Labour Day starts a fresh week, so its hours don't stack on the Saturday and Sunday. If your venue runs a different cycle and the Monday lands inside the same 38 hours, ask how they'll be paid: the award confines penalty rates to hours not already paid at overtime rates, and the Monday to Friday overtime rates of 150% and 200% both sit below 250%.
- You can be asked, and you can still say no. An employer can request that you work a public holiday if the request is reasonable, and you can refuse on reasonable grounds. It's a real right, but it isn't free, and what refusing actually costs a casual walks through the trade-off.
| Where you are | Mon 5 Oct is a public holiday | Clocks go forward on 4 Oct |
|---|---|---|
| NSW, ACT, South Australia | Yes (Labour Day) | Yes |
| Queensland | Yes (King's Birthday) | No |
| Victoria, Tasmania | No | Yes |
| Western Australia, Northern Territory | No | No |
Getting offered the shifts in the first place
Knowing that Labour Day pays double a Tuesday is only useful if somebody offers you a Labour Day shift. Most casuals get one venue's roster and work what's on it, which is how a $67.70 hour goes to whoever happened to be top of the manager's list.
Shiftly is free workforce management for venues with an on-demand staffing network built in, so the roster fills itself. For you that means nearby venues push open shifts straight to you, you see what a shift pays before you accept, and the money lands fast once it's approved. Worth setting up before the rosters for 3 to 5 October go out. Find shifts on Shiftly.
Frequently asked questions
Do I get paid for the hour that disappears when the clocks go forward?
Yes, under Fair Work's default. Where an award, agreement or contract says nothing about daylight saving, everyone working overnight when it starts is paid 'by the clock': paid for the rostered span even though you were there an hour less. The Hospitality Award has no daylight saving clause, so hospitality casuals fall into that default. Check your own contract anyway, since it can override. In April it runs the other way, and you work the extra hour unpaid.
What's the public holiday rate for a casual in hospitality?
250% of your base rate under the Hospitality Award, which for a casual Level 2 food and beverage attendant is $67.70 an hour from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. That already includes the 25% casual loading, so it isn't added again on top. The Restaurant Industry Award pays casuals the same 250%, plus a minimum of 2 hours' pay even if you're sent home early.
Is NRL grand final day a public holiday in NSW?
No. Victoria declares a public holiday for the Friday before the AFL Grand Final, but NSW has no equivalent for the NRL. Sunday 4 October 2026 is an ordinary Sunday for pay, which still means 175% of base for a casual under the Hospitality Award. The public holiday that weekend is the Monday.
Does a shift that runs past midnight into a public holiday get the public holiday rate?
The hours after midnight do. Penalty rates in the Hospitality Award attach to the time the hours are actually worked, so a Sunday night close running to 1am on Labour Day pays the Sunday rate until midnight and the public holiday rate after it. Your payslip should show that split. One flat rate across the whole shift is the first line to query.
Co-founder of Shiftly. Milan works with hospitality businesses across Australia to make rostering, timesheets and award-based pay radically simpler.
