HR, safety and compliance for the hospitality industry

Under the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020, penalty rates apply to all ordinary hours worked on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Saturday rates are higher than ordinary weekday rates; Sunday rates are higher again; public holiday rates are the highest under the Award. The exact percentage depends on each employee’s classification and whether they are full-time, part-time or casual. 

Casual employees receive their casual loading and the applicable penalty rate – both apply separately. A common error is paying only the casual loading on weekends without also applying the weekend penalty rate, resulting in an underpayment liability. 

Yes. foundU supports multi-site hospitality operators from a single platform, with venue-specific rostering rules, shift structures, and managers, sitting alongside centralised payroll, Award interpretation, and reporting. 

The platform automatically applies the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020, including penalty rates, overtime, and casual loadings, so that pay calculations are consistent across all sites, regardless of which manager builds the roster. Approved timesheets flow directly into payroll, removing the manual step where underpayment errors most commonly occur. 

Hospitality businesses in Australia have a legal duty of care under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all workers, so far as is reasonably practicable. This duty applies to employers in their capacity as a ‘Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking’ (PCBU). 

In practice, this requires identifying and controlling hazards specific to hospitality – kitchen risks (burns, cuts, slips, heat stress), manual handling, customer aggression, shift fatigue and noise. Employers must also maintain WHS records, investigate incidents, and report notifiable incidents to the relevant state regulator. 

Both ISO certification and HACCP are relevant to hospitality operators and serve different purposes. 

• HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is required under Australian food safety legislation for most food businesses. It identifies critical control points across food handling and preparation, from receiving and storage through to service, and documents the controls in place to prevent food safety hazards. 

• ISO 22000 is an internationally recognised food safety management system that aligns with Australian food safety legislation, suited to operators with significant food production operations. 

• ISO 9001 is a quality management certification that demonstrates operational consistency to clients, procurement teams and franchise partners. 

• ISO 45001 is an occupational health and safety management system that supports your obligations under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. 

Four areas require attention: 

• Casual conversion. The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Act introduced an ’employee choice’ pathway allowing eligible casuals to request permanent employment. Review your casual engagement practices and offer letters if you haven’t done so in the past 12 months. 

• Psychosocial hazards. Regulations requiring employers to proactively manage psychosocial risks, including customer aggression, fatigue and high job demand, came into force progressively from April 2023. Your WHS system must address these alongside physical hazards. 

• Annualised salaries. Employers using annualised salary arrangements under the Hospitality Award must conduct annual reconciliations to confirm employees have not been underpaid relative to Award entitlements – a current FWO enforcement focus for salaried management roles.