This article provides guidelines for using the pre-built Cotton Ginning Award [MA000024] Award package. For further information about this industry award, refer to Cotton Ginning Award [MA000024].
Key updates
See the current financial year tab to see award updates for the 2026/27 financial year.
28th
We have updated the hourly rates to exclude the Industry Allowance to ensure the pay rates are aligned with the Pay Guide.
1st
We have updated the award to reflect the Fair Work Commission's National Minimum Wage increase detailed in the Annual Wage Review 2026 decision, and also includes updates to expense-related allowances. You can find more information on the Determinations here and here.
These changes come into effect from the first full pay period on or after the 1st July 2026. Please install these updates after you have finalised your last pay run before the first full pay period beginning on or after the 1st July 2026.
12th
We have updated the award to reflect changes in the First Aid Allowance, ensuring alignment with the Pay Guide and PACT. To address these changes, we have replaced and updated the rules and rates from per hour to per week in all applicable pay rate templates.
In line with the update, the unused pay category has been retired and marked with an asterisk (*) to prevent any further utilisation.
- *First Aid Allowance
30th
We have introduced a new suite of configurations for Salaried Employment Agreements to allow the employers to manage the salaried employees, who are under Individual flexibility arrangements, directly within the award instead of having to remove them.
This introduction, which is an enhancement rather than a legislative update requirement, includes the items below if they do not already exist within an award:
- Pay Categories (Salary and Salary - Public Holiday Not Worked).
- Leave Allowance Templates for “No loading” and “With loading”.
- Rule Set to disregard timesheets.
- Pay Rate Templates.
- Employment Agreements for all employee types (full-time, part-time, and casual).
For detailed information on the changes, please refer to our guide here.
We have also renamed all leave allowance templates by adding the award code as a prefix. This ensures each template can be accurately associated with its respective award, particularly in cases where template names are identical.
1st
We have updated the award to reflect the Fair Work Commission's National Minimum Wage increase detailed in the Annual Wage Review 2024-25 decision and also includes updates to expense-related allowances. You can find more information on the Determinations here and here.
These changes come into effect from the first full pay period on or after the 1st July 2025. Please install these updates after you have finalised your last pay run before the first full pay period beginning on or after the 1st July 2025.
26th
We have identified an issue affecting Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave (PFDVL) accrual calculations. The accrual method was changed from "BASED ON A LEAVE YEAR" to "ON AN ONGOING BASIS," which may have caused incorrect leave accruals for some employees. The award has been updated to correct the accrual configuration.
For guidance on making leave adjustments, refer to this support article.
Install and configure the pre-built award package
For details on how to install and configure this Pre-built Award Template, please review the detailed help article here. While every effort is made to provide a high-quality service, Employment Hero does not accept responsibility for, guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness or up-to-date nature of the service. Before relying on the information, users should carefully evaluate its accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance for their purposes, and should obtain any appropriate professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances.
The award default Rule Set Period is set to Weekly that ends on a Sunday. If you follow a different work pattern or roster period, you can review and set the rule set period date that applies to your organisation.
Conditions of Pay
| Clause | Conditions | |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary hours of work |
14.1(a)
14.2(a) |
Day workers:
Night workers:
|
| Maximum hours per day |
14.1(c)/14.2(d)
|
|
| Maximum hours over a period |
10.3
14.1(b)/14.2(b) |
Part-time
38 hours per week |
| Overtime |
14.2(f)
21.2(a)
21.2(b) 21.2(d) |
Night work on Saturday or Sunday will be overtime
Casual loading prescribed by clause 11.1(a)(ii) will not be paid for overtime hours |
| RDO | 14.1(c)(ii)/14.2(d)(ii) | 24 minutes will accrue toward a rostered day off (RDO) |
| Work during RDO | 15.1(b) | (ii) Where the employer fails to provide 7 days’ notice for whatever reason, the employee will be paid at overtime rates for all time worked on the RDO. |
| TIL | 21.4(d) | The period of time off that an employee is entitled to take is the same as the number of overtime hours worked. |
| Clause | Conditions | |
|---|---|---|
| Night work | 22.1 | Monday to Friday: Permanent 115% of the ordinary hourly rate; Casual 125% of the ordinary hourly rate |
| Public Holidays |
22.1
28.1 |
Worked: 250% of the ordinary hourly rate Not Worked: Standard pay (Permanent only) |
| Clause | Conditions | |
|---|---|---|
| Auto meal breaks | 16.1 |
Day workers: 30-minute unpaid meal break, will not work for more than 5 hours without a meal break |
| Minimum shift engagement |
11.3
21.2(c)
22.2 |
Casual
Sunday/Public Holiday overtime
An employee who works on a public holiday must be paid for a minimum of 4 hours. |
| Higher duties |
17.2(a)
17.2(b)
|
4 hours in any one day or longer will be paid the rate applicable for that higher level for the whole day Less than 4 hours, the employee will be paid the higher rate for the actual time worked at the higher level. |
| Minimum break after ceasing work for the day | 16.4 | 10-hour break, otherwise, the employee will be paid overtime rates until they are released from duty. |
| Annual Leave Loading | 23.2 | 17.5% including any leading hands allowance and/or any disabilities allowance. This loading is paid instead of a night work loading. |
| Casual loading |
11.1(a)(ii)
11.1(b) |
A loading of 25% of the ordinary hourly rate Loading will not be paid for overtime hours worked. |
Special Notes
- The timesheet should have start and end times for the rules to apply correctly.
- Leaves should be converted into a timesheet with the standard hours of work.
Paid rest/meal breaks— employees do not need to clock in and out of paid breaks.
- The base rate for the following classification levels may not match the rate indicated on the pay guide due to a rounding issue with the system's calculation of casual loading and/or the all-purpose industry allowance. Please review and make manual adjustments where required.
- Casual - Cotton ginning employee level 1 - after 6 months of employment
- Casual - Cotton ginning employee level 2
- Casual - Cotton ginning employee level 3
- Casual - Cotton ginning employee level 4
- The clauses listed in the table below were not included in the award. If you need any of these clauses, it is necessary to create or customise the award.
| Clause no. | Clause Name | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 17.3 | Supported wage system |
Need to create Pay Rate Templates and Employment Agreements For employees who because of the effects of a disability are eligible for a supported wage, see Schedule C—Supported Wage System |
| 17.4 | National training wage |
Need to create Pay Rate Templates and Employment Agreements Schedule E to the Miscellaneous Award 2020 sets out minimum wage rates and conditions for employees undertaking traineeships. |
| 16.1 | Unpaid meal breaks—day workers |
Need to customise rules The rule must be customised to extend the allowable time without a meal break from 5 to 6 hours. |
Work types
Work types are a description of the kind of shift you are working, and you select them when you record a timesheet. The following is a list of work types employees can select on their timesheet, and the meaning of each item.
| Annual Leave Taken | Choose this work type when annual leave is taken. |
| Bulk Liquid Tanks Allowance | Choose this work type when the employee is required to work in bulk liquid tanks. This special allowance will be paid for a confined space. |
Compassionate Leave Taken |
Choose this work type when compassionate leave is taken. |
| Leave Without Pay Taken | Choose this work type when any unpaid leave is taken. |
| Long Service Leave Taken | Choose this work type when long service leave is taken. |
| No minimum shift engagement | Choose this work type when an employee does not require minimum shift payment. |
| Overtime - working on RDO | Choose this work type when a permanent employee is required to work on RDO and the employer fails to provide 7 days' notice. |
| Overtime Meal Allowance | Choose this work type when an employee is required to work overtime for more than one hour after their ordinary finishing time and where that employee has not been notified the day before. |
| Paid Community Service Leave Taken | Choose this work type when community service leave is taken. |
| Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave Taken | Choose this work type when paid family and domestic violence leave taken. |
| Personal/Carer's Leave Taken | Choose this work type when personal/carer's leave is taken. |
| Public holiday not worked | Choose this work type where a permanent employee is not required to work on a shift falling on a gazetted public holiday that the employee would have otherwise worked had it not been a public holiday. |
| Rostered Day Off Taken | Choose this work type when a rostered day off is taken. |
| Special contingency - Emerald and St George | Choose this work type when an employee works in the Emerald and St George. |
| Special contingency - Moura and Cecil Plains | Choose this work type when an employee works in the Moura and Cecil Plains. |
| TIL of overtime | Choose this work type if the employee elects to accrue time in lieu rather than be paid overtime for a shift. |
| Time in Lieu Taken | Choose this work type when a time in lieu is taken. |
Shift conditions
Shift Conditions are further details you can add to a shift where more than one condition applies to your shift. Shift conditions are selected when you edit a timesheet record, or when clocking on using the ClockMeIn Time and Attendance or Employment Hero Work apps. The following is a list of Shift Conditions employees can select on their timesheet, and the meaning of each item.
| Bulk Liquid Tanks Allowance | Select this shift condition when an employee is required to work in bulk liquid tanks. This special allowance will be paid for a confined space. |
| No minimum shift engagement | Select this shift condition when an employee does not require minimum shift payment. |
| Overtime - working on RDO | Select this shift condition when an employee is required to work overtime for more than one hour after their ordinary finishing time and where that employee has not been notified the day before. |
| Overtime Meal Allowance | Select this shift condition when an employee is required to work overtime for more than one hour after their ordinary finishing time and where that employee has not been notified the day before. |
Tags
Employee Tags are specific conditions typically related to the employee’s agreement. These are often conditions negotiated and agreed between the employer and the employee, or unique characteristics of the employee’s role. Payment of these provisions is usually of a recurring and ongoing nature.
| First aid | Assign this tag to an employee who is trained and appointed by the employer to provide first aid. |
| Leading hand - 3-10 employees | Assign this tag to an employee appointed to be a leading hand in charge of 3-10 employees. |
| Leading hand - 11-20 employees | Assign this tag to an employee appointed to be a leading hand in charge of 11-20 employees. |
| Leading hand - 20+ employees | Assign this tag to an employee appointed to be a leading hand in charge of more than 20 employees. |
| Night Worker | Assign this tag to an employee who works between 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm. |
| RDO | Assign this tag to an employee if they accrue RDO. |
| Seasonal Worker | Assign this tag to an employee who is engaged from time to time to supplement the permanent workforce. |
| TIL of OT | Assign this tag if an employee has agreed to have all overtime hours accrued as time in lieu of overtime. |
System Limitations
Please note that rules will not be able to interpret or calculate the below clauses due to system limitations and will require manual intervention.
(e) Time off must be taken:
(i) within the period of 6 months after the overtime is worked; and
(ii) at a time or times within that period of 6 months agreed by the employee and employer.
(f) If the employee requests at any time, to be paid for overtime covered by an agreement under clause 21.4 but not taken as time off, the employer must pay the employee for the overtime, in the next pay period following the request, at the overtime rate applicable to the overtime when worked.
(g) If time off for overtime that has been worked is not taken within the period of 6 months mentioned in clause 21.4(e), the employer must pay the employee for the overtime, in the next pay period following those 6 months, at the overtime rate applicable to the overtime when worked.