For restaurantsFree restaurant rostering, split shifts priced in
Shiftly is free rostering, timesheet and award pay software for Australian restaurants. It applies the Restaurant Industry Award (MA000119) or the Hospitality Industry (General) Award (MA000009) to every shift, including split shift allowances, evening loadings, weekend penalties and the 25% casual loading, and from September 2026 fills open floor and kitchen shifts with on-demand staff in Sydney.
Lunch and dinner split shifts
A waiter who works 11am to 3pm and comes back at 5:30pm has worked a split shift. Under MA000009 a break of two to under three hours attracts a 12.5% allowance for the day, and three hours or more attracts 19%. Miss it and you have underpaid every split in the week.
Two awards, two sets of rates
A restaurant that is not part of a hotel or pub is usually covered by the Restaurant Industry Award (MA000119). A restaurant inside a pub or hotel sits under the Hospitality Industry (General) Award (MA000009). The penalties differ, and a venue needs the right one on every shift.
Wage cost per service
Front of house and kitchen sit on different classifications, dinner service runs into the 7pm-to-midnight loading, and the owner needs to know what Saturday dinner cost as a share of what it took, not a month later on the P&L.
Rostering
Lunch and dinner services from a template, checked before they go out
Save your standard week as a template, copy it forward, then drag extra floor staff onto Friday and Saturday dinner. Shiftly flags a casual shift under the two-hour minimum, a part-time shift under three hours, a turnaround of fewer than eight hours between a late close and a lunch open, and any double-booking between floor and kitchen, so the roster is award-safe before it reaches anyone's phone.
Award pay
The split shift, the Saturday dinner and the chef's classification, each at the right rate
Set each person's award, classification and employment type once. Shiftly then works out every shift as you roster it: the 12.5% or 19% split shift allowance when lunch and dinner are rostered for the same person, the $2.95 loading on each hour after 7pm, 175% for a casual on Sunday, 250% on a public holiday, and overtime past 38 hours. The breakdown is on the shift card before you publish, and the same rules run on the approved timesheet.
- Split shift allowances applied automatically
- Restaurant Award and HIGA both supported
Timesheets and job costing
What Saturday dinner actually cost, by area
Staff clock on and off in the Shiftly Me app with their location checked, so a service that ran forty minutes over is paid for forty minutes over. Managers approve timesheets in a tap and approved hours sync to Xero as a pay run with the award applied. Job costing reports wage cost by floor, kitchen and bar for the week, so you can see labour as a share of takings while there is still time to change next week's roster.
On-demand cover
Booked out on Saturday, and a section waiter has just pulled out
Mark the shift open and Shiftly offers it to your own available staff first. From September 2026, Sydney restaurants can post the same shift to Shiftly On-Demand, where independent shifters with an ABN accept it directly. You pay for the hours worked plus Shiftly's fee, with no agency markup, and because shifters work for themselves there is no payroll to run for the cover. Shiftly moves the payment from your restaurant to the worker.
- Launching in Sydney, September 2026, starting with hospitality
- No agency fees, no payroll for temporary cover
“I've really enjoyed using Shiftly, it's not often you come across a premium rostering system that is completely free. ... Highly recommend these guys and this software.”
Roster your restaurant for free, from this week's services
Import your staff from Deputy, Xero or a CSV, pick the Restaurant Award or HIGA and publish your first roster before the next dinner service.
FeaturesExplore more of Shiftly
Employee rostering
Easily plan shifts, publish rosters, sync timesheets and export in seconds, with no spreadsheets and no stress. Stay in control and keep payroll running smoothly with Shiftly.
Read More
Award interpretation
Our smart, automated system calculates wages, penalties, allowances, and overtime using configured award rules to support your payroll processes.
Read More
Award-based timesheets
Pay is calculated from your configured award rates, approved hours are captured, and everything syncs to Xero ready for your pay run.
Read MoreRunning a cafe or a pub instead?
Shiftly handles early-start loadings for cafes and late-night loadings for pubs and bars too. See the hospitality overview, or book a demo and we'll walk through your venue.
Restaurant rostering, answered
Restaurants, cafes and catering businesses that are not part of a hotel, pub or club are generally covered by the Restaurant Industry Award 2020 (MA000119). A restaurant that operates inside a pub or hotel is covered by the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (MA000009). Both set a 25% casual loading and penalties for weekends, public holidays and evening work. Shiftly supports both as configured awards, and you choose the one that applies when you set up each employee.