Running payroll in a winery isn’t just about paying people on time. It’s about applying the Wine Industry Award (MA000090) correctly, especially during vintage when hours stretch, penalties apply and labour costs spike.
This guide breaks down how pay rates work under the Wine Award so winery owners and payroll managers can avoid underpayments and compliance risk.
What Is the Wine Industry Award?
The Wine Industry Award (MA000090) is a Modern Award under the national workplace relations system. It sets the minimum pay rates and employment conditions for employees working in wine production and related activities across Australia.
Unless your winery operates under a registered enterprise agreement, this Award determines:
- Minimum hourly and weekly pay rates
- Overtime thresholds
- Weekend and public holiday penalties
- Casual loadings
- Allowances
It is legally enforceable through the Fair Work system.
Who Is Covered by MA000090?
The Award applies to most operational roles inside a winery and vineyard environment.
Common covered roles include:
- Vineyard hands and field workers
- Winery production staff
- Cellar door attendants
- Laboratory and quality control workers
- Maintenance and general hands
Managers and senior professionals may fall outside the Award depending on their duties and salary. Independent contractors are not covered, but genuine contractor status must meet strict legal tests.
Misidentifying who is award-covered is one of the most common payroll errors in wineries.
How Classifications Work
The Wine Industry Award is structured around classification levels. Each level reflects:
- Skill
- Experience
- Responsibility
- Autonomy
Entry-level workers are paid at lower classification levels. Skilled production staff, cellar supervisors or experienced operators sit higher.
A simplified example:
| Classification Level | Typical Role | Skill Profile |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | General winery hand | Basic duties under supervision |
| Level 3 | Skilled production worker | Operates equipment independently |
| Level 5 | Leading hand | Supervises team members |
Under-classifying staff to reduce costs creates long-term exposure. Over time, small hourly differences compound into significant back-pay liabilities.
Base Pay Rates: What You Need to Know
The Award sets minimum weekly rates and their hourly equivalents. Casual employees receive a 25 percent loading instead of leave entitlements.
Rather than memorising numbers, wineries should focus on three rules:
- Check the current Fair Work rate schedule each July after annual increases
- Confirm the correct classification before applying rates
- Ensure casual loading is added on top of the base rate
Many underpayments in this sector occur not because the rate was unknown, but because the wrong level was selected.
Casual Loading and Vintage Season
Vintage changes everything.
During harvest, wineries often increase casual headcount quickly. Casual employees:
- Receive a 25 percent loading
- Do not receive paid annual leave or personal leave
- Still accrue overtime and penalty entitlements
Short-term engagement does not remove Award obligations. Even if someone works for only six weeks during crush, all penalty and overtime provisions still apply.
Vintage is when payroll complexity peaks.
Overtime Rules Under the Wine Award
Overtime typically applies when employees:
- Work beyond ordinary daily hours
- Exceed weekly ordinary hour limits
- Work outside agreed span of hours
Overtime is usually paid at time-and-a-half for initial hours, then double time depending on the structure.
In production environments running extended shifts during crush, incorrect overtime calculations are common. Payroll systems must recognise when ordinary hours stop and overtime begins.
Manual calculations often miss this.
Weekend and Public Holiday Penalties
Cellar door operations add another layer.
Weekend and public holiday trading means penalty rates apply regularly. Under the Wine Industry Award:
- Saturday work attracts a higher rate
- Sunday work attracts a higher multiplier again
- Public holidays are paid at a significant premium
Public holidays during peak tourism periods create the highest payroll exposure. Missing a multiplier on one long weekend can affect multiple staff across multiple shifts.
These are not optional enhancements. They are minimum legal entitlements.
Allowances Wineries Often Miss
Base pay is only part of the equation.
The Award includes specific allowances that may apply depending on duties performed. Common examples include:
- Leading hand allowance
- First aid allowance
- Tool or equipment allowances
- Travel or remote work allowances
Allowances are frequently overlooked because they apply only in specific scenarios. But when they apply, they must be paid.
Payroll audits in the wine sector regularly uncover missed allowances rather than incorrect base rates.
Piece Rates in Vineyards
Piecework is common in vineyard operations, particularly for grape picking and pruning.
Under current Fair Work rules:
- Piecework agreements must be in writing
- Employees must still earn at least the minimum Award rate on average
- Record-keeping must support compliance
Recent regulatory changes have tightened how piece rates are assessed. Paying per tonne or per bin does not remove minimum wage obligations.
If the math does not average out above the Award minimum, the employer remains liable.
The Compliance Risks Most Wineries Face
Payroll risk in wineries rarely shows up as a single major breach. It creeps in through small, repeatable errors.
It might start with a cellar door employee classified one level too low. Or overtime during vintage calculated as ordinary hours because the shift pattern changed mid-season.
Public holidays are another trap. One missed multiplier across a long weekend affects every affected employee.
Then there’s the quiet one: failing to update pay rates after the annual Award increase. From that point on, every pay run is slightly wrong.
Spreadsheets don’t cause these errors. Complexity does. But spreadsheets make them easier to repeat.
Individually, each mistake feels minor. Over a full vintage, they add up.
How to Stay Compliant
Compliance under the Wine Industry Award requires structure, not guesswork.
Practical steps include:
- Reviewing employee classifications annually
- Checking Award updates each financial year
- Auditing public holiday and weekend payments
- Ensuring written piecework agreements are compliant
- Automating overtime and penalty calculations where possible
The goal is not to memorise every clause. The goal is to ensure the system applies them correctly every time.
The Wine Industry Award (MA000090) is detailed and technical by design. It exists to protect employees and set consistent standards across the industry.
The Wine Industry Award is manageable when the system applying it is reliable.
If your winery is relying on manual checks, spreadsheets or workarounds to handle classifications, penalties and vintage overtime, the risk isn’t theoretical. It’s structural.
ClockOn’s payroll system is built to interpret Awards, apply penalty rates automatically and reduce calculation errors across every pay run.
If you want to understand whether your current setup is exposing you to avoidable payroll leakage, request a payroll review with ClockOn. It’s a practical starting point and a clearer way to protect your margins before the next vintage begins.
