Overview of the Storage Services and Wholesale Award [MA000084]

If you run a warehouse, storage facility, or wholesale business, there’s a good chance the Storage Services and Wholesale Award [MA000084] applies to your staff. The award covers how much to pay them, how to roster them, and what breaks and leave they have a right to.

Adhering to the rules set out in the Storage Services and Wholesale Award is important. Getting it wrong can mean unhappy workers, big fines, backpay claims, and a whole lot of unnecessary stress.

In this article, we provide a general and easy-to-understand overview of the Storage Services and Wholesale Award without all the confusing jargon. We go through everything from coverage to employment types, pay rates, allowances, superannuation, rosters, leave, and more.

Note: The information contained in this article is current as of 24/03/2025. Award conditions and rates are subject to change. As such, please make sure you refer to the latest version of the Storage Services and Wholesale Award for the most up-to-date information.

Storage Services and Wholesale Award coverage

The Storage Services and Wholesale Award typically applies if your business in within the wholesale industry and does things like:

• receiving goods
• storing goods
• packing goods
• bottling goods
• freezing goods
• sorting goods
• delivering goods

It also covers wholesale businesses that sell products to other businesses (rather than directly to customers). 

In terms of the employees covered, the award covers permanent staff, labour hire workers, and trainees working within the above-mentioned areas (assuming they're doing work that matches the award's classifications list).

If you’ve got an HR team handling contracts and onboarding, this is the award they’ll likely be referring to for most warehouse and wholesale roles. But it gets a little tricky. If people within your business fall under another award that includes the same type of work, for example, the Road Transport and Distribution Award, then the Storage Services and Wholesale Award probably won't apply. It also doesn’t apply to public sector workers or anyone who falls under an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement or similar business mechanism. Got a worker that fits under more than one award? They go under the one that suits their job and work environment the most.

If you're not 100% sure which award covers your workers, you're not alone. Modern award coverage is super complex. Because of this, it's always worth checking directly with Fair Work or getting legal advice to be sure.

Employment types under the Storage Services and Wholesale Award

There are three ways you can hire someone under the Storage Services and Wholesale Award: full-time, part-time, or casual. Each employment type has different conditions, so it’s worth knowing the rules.

Full-time

Full-time employees work an average of 38 hours a week. Their employment is ongoing and not shift-to-shift like a casual worker. They work regular, consistent hours across each week.

Part-time

Part-time workers do the same sort of jobs as full-timers, just with fewer hours. They’re typically engaged for less than 38 hours week to week. These hours need to be pretty consistent week to week. It's worth noting that a minimum engagement of 3 hours exists for part-time employees. This means that even if you engage them for less time, you must pay them for 3 hours. 

When you hire someone part-time, you both need to agree (in writing) on:

• the days they work
• the hours they work each day
• what time they start and finish

Once agreed, any changes to that regular schedule need to be agreed upon on writing too. If they work more than their agreed hours, you’ll need to pay them overtime.

Casual

Casual workers don’t have guaranteed hours. You bring them in as needed. However, each shift must be a minimum of 4 hours long. Casuals get a 25% loading on top of their base hourly rate for ordinary hours worked. That’s to make up for things like not getting paid leave or sick days. And if they work overtime, they still get paid the higher overtime rates, just like everyone else.

Storage Services Award ordinary hours and rostering

Under the Storage and Wholesale Award, full-time workers can do up to 38 ordinary hours a week. This is averaged over 4 weeks. In most cases, these hours fall between 7:00am and 5:30pm, Monday to Friday.

In a typical setup, full-time workers do four or five days a week. And, usually, they shouldn’t work more than 8 hours a day (not counting breaks). In instances where both sides agree, they can legally work up to 10 hours in a day.

The same general rules for the spread of hours apply to part-time workers. 

Rostered days off (RDOs)

If your setup includes RDOs, workers can take one paid day off every four weeks. But there’s a cap on this. They can’t take more than 13 RDOs in a year. When rostering RDOs, you need to give workers at least four weeks’ notice of the day they’ll have off. Once rostered, you can still swap that day if:

• the worker agrees
• or the whole team agrees, and there’s a solid reason (like a power outage or an urgent order)

Flexible start and finish times

This one mainly applies to full-time and part-time workers, as they’ve got regular rosters. You can change their start or finish times on a given day by up to one hour earlier or later. However, this is only if the worker agrees.

And that’s for small changes. If you’re planning a bigger shift, like changing everyone’s hours to start earlier or later than usual, you don't need agreement. But you do need to give them at least one week’s notice before the change kicks in.

Make-up time

This one also mostly applies to full-time and part-time workers. If someone needs to duck out for a few hours during the day, they can make up the time later. You both need to agree to it, though. And you need to put it in writing when you agree on it.

Shift workers can do this too. But if they make up time during hours that normally attract penalty rates (like late nights or weekends), you still have to pay those penalty rates.

Casuals don’t really use make-up time. They’re brought in as needed and don’t have guaranteed hours. So, there’s usually nothing to 'make up.'

Wholesale Award pay rates

Pay under the Storage Services and Wholesale Award depends on the type of work your employee does. It also depends on how long they’ve been doing it. The award breaks this down into grades for storeworkers and levels for wholesale employees.

Here are a few examples of the minimum hourly rates for full-time adult employees (as of 1 July 2024):

• Storeworker Grade 1 (starting out): $24.98 per hour
• Storeworker Grade 1 (after 12 months): $25.57 per hour
• Storeworker Grade 3: $26.53 per hour
• Wholesale Level 1 (starting out): $24.98 per hour
• Wholesale Level 4: $27.32 per hour

Junior employees (under 21) receive a percentage of the adult rate. For instance, a 16-year-old doing Grade 1 Storeworker work gets 50% of the adult rate.

If someone temporarily steps up and does a higher-level job, even for part of the day, you must pay them the higher rate. If they’re doing it for most of the day, or all week, they get the higher pay for the whole shift or the full week.

As mentioned, you also need to pay casual employees 25% on top of the minimum hourly rate.

Overtime and penalty rates

If someone works outside their ordinary hours, you need to pay them overtime. The rules are different depending on if they’re full-time, part-time, or casual.

Overtime rates

• Full-time and part-time employees:
• First 2 hours: 150% of the base hourly rate
• After 2 hours: 200% of the base hourly rate
• Casual employees:
• First 2 hours: 175% of the base hourly rate
• After 2 hours: 225% of the base hourly rate

You can agree (in writing) to give time off instead of paying overtime. But that time off has to match the hours worked. The employee must also take that time off within six months. Otherwise, you need to pay it out. And you need to pay it out at the rate it was originally incurred at. Not the rate applicable to when the pay run was done.

If someone works so much overtime that they don’t get 10 hours off between shifts, you have two options. You must either send them home or pay them double time until they get that break. And you can’t dock their pay. They must still get paid for the ordinary hours they miss because of the breach.

Penalty rates for weekends and public holidays

• Saturday: 150% of the base hourly rate
• Sunday: 200% of the base hourly rate
• Public holidays: 250% of the base hourly rate

If someone only works a short shift on a Sunday or public holiday, you still have to pay them for a minimum of 4 hours.

Shift penalties

You'll also need to pay extra if someone’s working regular shifts outside the usual 7am–5:30pm window:

• Early morning shift (starts between 2am and 7am): 112.5% of the base hourly rate
• Afternoon shift (finishes after 6pm and before midnight): 115% of the base hourly rate
• Night shift (finishes after midnight and before 8:30am): 130% of the base hourly rate

It's important to note that the higher weekend and public holiday rates replace the normal shift penalties. You don’t stack both.

Payment of wages

You’ve got two options when it comes to paying staff under the Storage Services and Wholesale Award: weekly or fortnightly. No monthly pay cycles allowed here.

You can pay wages by:

• electronic transfer (into a bank account or other recognised account),
• cash, or
• cheque

If payday falls on a public holiday or a day off, and you’re paying by cash or cheque, you’ll need to pay your worker before the break. This is unless they agree to get it the day after, of course.

When someone leaves the business, your payroll process needs to kick in quickly. You need to pay them everything you owe them within seven days. That includes:

• any wages still owing
• unused leave
• any other entitlements under the award or the National Employment Standards (NES)

Long service leave might be due on their final day. This depends on your state or territory. So, be sure to double-check the local rules for that, too.

Also, payslips must clearly show any allowances being paid. That’s a legal requirement.

Warehouse Award allowances

On top of base pay, workers that fall under the Storage Services and Wholesale Award might have a right to extra payments. These extra payments are known as allowances. Here are some of the main ones:

• Meal allowance: This applies if a worker stays back and does more than an hour of overtime. They have a right to a $20.90 meal allowance, unless they can reasonably nip home for dinner.
• Cold work allowance: If someone works in freezing conditions, they get paid more. Consider someone is working in a freezer below -23.3°C packing produce. That'll earn them an extra $2.08 per hour.
• First aid allowance: If a worker has a current first aid certificate and you request that they act as the designated first aid person, they get an extra $15.57 a week.
• Travel and fares: This applies if a worker has to travel to a job site that’s not their usual depot or warehouse. You must pay them for the extra travel time and reimburse them for any additional fares.
• Uniforms and protective gear: This applies if a job requires uniforms, overalls, or protective gear. You must either supply it or reimburse the cost. This includes cleaning costs if it’s a dirty or messy job.
• Damaged personal items: If a worker damages or breaks their personal items, such as dentures or prescription glasses while doing their job (and it wasn’t their fault), you must reimburse them. This reimbursement can be up to $1121 per item.

You need to clearly show the allowance you pay on payslips.

Storage Services and Wholesale Award superannuation

If you’ve got employees that fall under the Storage Services and Wholesale Award, you need to pay super on their behalf. This is just like you would under the Super Guarantee. The superannuation legislation still sets the amount you need to pay, not the award itself. But the award adds a few extra rules.

Employer contributions

You must make super contributions for every eligible worker. And these contributions need to meet the legal minimum. As of 1 July 2024, this is 11.5%, which is set to rise to 12% by 1 July 2025. These payments go into a complying super fund.

If you don’t make these payments, pay the wrong amount, or simply pay late, you can expect the ATO to come knocking.

Choosing a super fund

When you bring someone new onboard, part of the onboarding process includes giving them a Superannuation Standard Choice Form. They can use this form to inform you of the fund they want their super paid into.

If they don’t make a choice, you need to ask the ATO if they’ve got a stapled super fund. A stapled super fund refers to an existing fund linked to the employee. If they do have one, you have to use that. If they don’t, you can pay their super into one of the default funds listed in the award. For the Storage Services and Wholesale Award, some of the default funds include AustralianSuper, REST, or Sunsuper.

Voluntary contributions

Employees can also ask you to put extra money from their after-tax pay into their super fund. The request needs to be in writing. They can change the amount too. They just have to give you three months' written notice if they wish to do this. Once you make the deduction, you’ve got 28 days after the end of the month to pay it into their fund.

Leave entitlements under the Storage Services and Wholesale Award

The Storage Services and Wholesale Award follows the NES when it comes to leave. That means most of the rules come from the NES. But you still need to know how they apply to full-time, part-time, and casual employees under this award.

Annual leave

Full-time workers get four weeks of paid annual leave for every year they work. Part-time workers get the same entitlement pro rata, based on how many hours they work each week. Annual leave builds up over time and carries over if an employee doesn't use it. 

There’s one exception to the four weeks of annual leave. If a worker is classed as a shiftworker under the NES, they get five weeks instead. To count as a shiftworker, they need to regularly work Sundays and public holidays. That usually means at least 34 times a year. For part-time workers, it’s a pro-rata equivalent of 34 shifts.

When someone takes annual leave, you need to pay them their base pay rate plus 17.5% leave loading. That loading applies only to annual leave an employee takes. It doesn't apply to leave they cash out. 

If a worker would normally get a higher penalty rate during their leave (like weekend or night shift rates), they get that instead of leave loading. This usually applies when their ordinary hours would have fallen on a Saturday, Sunday, or night shift.

It's generally up to the employee when they take their leave, though they have to apply for it. Unless you have a really good reason, you can't force someone to take leave. A good reason is something like your business shutting down over Christmas. In that case, you must give them a minimum of four weeks’ notice.

Workers can also take annual leave in advance. But you both need to agree to it in writing. You need to keep a record of how much leave employees take and when they take it. If a worker takes leave in advance and resigns before they earn it back, you can deduct the owing amount from their final pay. On the flip side, if they have unused leave left upon their departure from your company, you need to pay it out in full.

If someone builds up too much leave, you can encourage them to use some of it. 'Too much leave' is generally more than eight weeks for full-timers (or the equivalent for part-timers). If they don’t agree, you can direct them to take the leave. But you need to give them at least eight weeks’ notice. You also need to make sure they still have at least six weeks of leave left after the break.

Casual workers don’t get annual leave. Their 25% casual loading compensates for this.

Public holidays

Full-time and part-time employees get public holiday rights under the NES, backed by the Storage Services and Wholesale Award. If a public holiday falls on a day they normally work, you need to pay them for the day at their base rate. This is true even if they don't work on that day.

Casual employees don't get public holiday pay, unless they actually work on the day.

If an employee works on a public holiday, they get penalty rates. As mentioned, under the Wholesale Award, you need to pay them 250% of their base hourly rate.

If a public holiday falls on someone’s rostered day off, you usually don’t have to give them an extra day off. The only time you would need to do that is if your workplace has a separate agreement in place that mandates this.

You and an employee can agree to swap a public holiday for another day off. But you both need to put that agreement in writing.

The actual public holidays can vary depending on your state or territory. But most workers in Australia get the following national days off:

• New Year’s Day
• Australia Day
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• Anzac Day
• Christmas Day
• Boxing Day

You also need to factor in state-based holidays. These can include public holidays like the King’s Birthday, Labour Day, or other regional holidays. The dates of these differ depending on where your business is. So, it's always a good idea to check your state or territory’s official public holiday calendar.

Other types of leave

Here are some of the other types of leave employees have a right to under the award and the NES:

• Personal/carer’s leave: Full-time workers get 10 paid days per year. Part-time workers get it pro rata, based on the hours they work. Employees can use this leave if they’re sick or need to care for a close family or household member. Casuals don’t get paid personal leave. But they can take unpaid carer’s leave when needed.
• Compassionate leave: This applies to all employees, including casuals. Workers can take 2 days per occasion. They can typically use this leave if someone in their immediate family or household passes away or suffers a life-threatening illness or injury. Full-time and part-time employees get paid while on compassionate leave. Casuals can take it unpaid.
• Family and domestic violence leave: All employees, including casuals, get 10 days of paid leave per year to deal with family or domestic violence. They can use this leave to attend court, access support services, relocate, or take steps to protect themselves or their family. You need to keep all requests for this leave strictly confidential.
• Parental leave: All employees, including casuals who’ve worked regularly for at least 12 months, can take up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave. They can also request another 12 months on top of that. Parental leave applies after the birth or adoption of a child.
• Community service leave: This leave covers jury duty and volunteer emergency service. All employees can take it. You need to pay full-time and part-time workers for their first 10 days of jury duty. All other time off (like for emergency fire service) is unpaid.
• Long service leave: This applies to full-time, part-time, and casual employees. If they work for you continuously for 7 to 10 years (depending on your state or territory), they become eligible. 

Simplify Storage Services and Wholesale Award compliance with Rippling

Managing Storage Services and Wholesale Award compliance manually is risky and time-consuming. This is especially true when you’ve got full-timers, part-timers, and casuals. They all earn different rates and fall under different rules within the award. Thanks to Rippling, there's no need to lose sleep over all of this.

Rippling is an all-in-one workforce management platform. It connects HR, Payroll, IT, and Spend all in one system, and all pulling from the same data. You don’t need separate tools for rosters, leave, super, and payslips. It’s all there.

With Rippling’s HCM (Human Capital Management) software, you can set up correct classifications, track hours worked, and monitor who’s approaching overtime. You can also apply different rules for different types of employees automatically. So, full-timers, part-timers, and casuals get treated exactly the way the award says they should.

The HRIS (Human Resource Information System) keeps employee records accurate and up to date. Think contracts, pay history, and leave balances. It also makes onboarding easier. This means that new hires can start off on the right foot from day one.

Then there's Rippling's payroll software where a lot of the magic happens. It automatically applies the right pay rates, including overtime, penalty rates, and allowances. It calculates superannuation for you and keeps track of leave loading. 

What's more, the platform links time and attendance with payroll. So, you’re never entering hours twice or guessing who worked what, when, and at what rate.

In a nutshell, it’s award compliance without the stress. Less admin, less manual errors, and way less time spent second-guessing. Just one system that keeps everything tight and tidy.

Storage Services and Wholesale Award FAQs

What kind of roles does the Storage Services and Wholesale Award cover?

This award applies to workers in the Storage Services and Wholesale Industry. That includes workers in businesses that handle, store, pack, bottle, freeze, sort, load, dispatch, and deliver. It also includes workers in businesses that sell goods wholesale (to other businesses, not to the general public).

Here are some common roles that fall under the Storage Services and Wholesale Award:

• Storeworker
• Warehouse assistant
• Forklift driver
• Order picker/packer
• Loader or unloader
• Cold storage worker
• Inventory controller
• Dispatch or receiving officer
• Wholesale sales staff

The award only applies if the employee’s duties match the classifications in the award. If they’re doing something outside that scope, they might come under a different award. In essence, you need to match the award to the actual work being done, not just the job title.

Example: A worker mainly drives a truck and delivers goods to different locations. Their job includes things like route planning and transport logistics, not just loading or unloading. Because of this, they fall under the Road Transport and Distribution Award instead of the Storage Services and Wholesale Award.

Does the Storage Services and Wholesale Award cover ride on equipment operators?

Yes. But the work they’re doing has to fall under one of the classifications the Storage Services and Wholesale Award lists. For example, a Grade 2 or Grade 3 Storeworker So, if someone operates a ride-on forklift or pallet jack in a warehouse or wholesale setting, and they’re doing the kind of work the award describes, then the Storage Services and Wholesale Award applies.

What are the rules of shiftwork under the Warehouse Award?

The Storage Services and Warehouse Award includes specific shiftwork rules. You need to adhere to them when defining shifts, paying shiftworkers, and managing rosters. As mentioned, there are three types of shiftwork the award defines:

• Early morning shift: starts between 2:00am and 7:00am
• Afternoon shift: finishes after 6:00pm and at or before midnight
• Night shift: finishes after midnight and at or before 8:30am

You can’t force a day shift worker to work afternoon or night shifts. They have to agree to it.

The ordinary hours for shiftworkers must average 38 hours per week. They must not go over:

• 8 hours in a single day (unless a 10 hour agreement has been reached)
• 38 hours in one week
• 76 hours in 14 days
• 114 hours in 21 days
• 152 hours in 28 days

As discussed, shiftworkers who work ordinary hours between midnight Friday and midnight Sunday receive weekend penalty rates. These rates replace the standard shift penalty rates. They don’t stack on top.

You must give employees at least 48 hours’ notice of a new shift roster. If you need to change it after that, it has to be because of something outside your control. And you can only change it with 24 hours’ notice, or by direct agreement with the worker.

Do warehouse administration staff fall under the Storage Services and Wholesale Award?

It depends on the exact work they do. If they take care of general office duties, like payroll, HR admin, data entry, or finance, they might fall under the Clerks – Private Sector Award instead.

But if their admin work directly supports warehousing or wholesale operations (like handling incoming orders, booking freight, or scheduling warehouse staff), and their duties line up with one of the classifications in the award, then the Storage Services and Wholesale Award probably applies.

Again, you need to look at the actual tasks they do. Not just their job title. Then you need to compare this with the award’s classification list.

How do I know which classification to use for a new hire under the Storage Services and Wholesale Award?

Start by looking at clause 12 of the award. There, you'll find a list of the classification levels with descriptions of the kind of work each one covers. You need to match your new hire’s actual day-to-day duties with the closest classification on that list.

For example, if you’re hiring someone to pick and pack orders, they probably fall under Storeworker Grade 1 or 2. If they’re using machinery like a forklift or leading a small team, you might be looking at Grade 3 or 4.

It's not straightforward. And choosing the wrong classification can lead to underpayment and backpay issues down the line. So, if you’re not sure, it’s worth getting advice. 

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.