What is the Cleaning Services Award (MA000022)?

The Cleaning Services Award (MA000022) is the modern award that sets minimum pay rates, penalties, allowances, and conditions for employees working in commercial and contract cleaning in Australia. It covers a broad range of roles, from general cleaners to supervisors, working across industries such as offices, hospitals, schools, hotels, and retail centres.

If your business employs cleaners on an ongoing or casual basis, this award almost certainly applies to you. Getting it wrong, even on a single pay element, can result in underpayment liability, Fair Work audits, and significant back-pay obligations. This guide explains the key provisions that payroll teams need to know, with the 2026 wage review changes already applied.

Who does the award cover?

The Cleaning Services Award covers employees engaged in cleaning work in the commercial and contract cleaning industry. This includes:

  • General cleaners (indoor and outdoor)
  • Leading hands and supervisors
  • Window cleaners (including high-rise and abseiling)
  • Employees working in specialist environments such as hospitals or food processing facilities

The award does not cover employees of businesses that clean their own premises as a non-principal activity, where a different award or enterprise agreement may apply. Employers should check Fair Work Australia's coverage tool if coverage is uncertain.

2026 Annual Wage Review: what changed from 1 July 2026?

The Fair Work Commission handed down its 2025–2026 Annual Wage Review decision, with a pay increase applying from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. All minimum pay rates under the Cleaning Services Award increased accordingly.

The increase applies to the National Minimum Wage and the full set of pay points within the award's classification structure. Payroll teams that have not yet updated their rates should treat this as urgent. Running any pay period after the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026 at pre-review rates constitutes underpayment.

Always verify the current pay rates directly from the Fair Work Ombudsman or the official award document, as rates are indexed each year and the figures in this article reflect the post-July 2026 review period. Do not rely on rates sourced prior to that date.

Classification structure

The Cleaning Services Award uses a graded classification structure. Employees are classified based on their duties, skill level, and any specialist responsibilities. Common classifications include:

  • Cleaner Grade 1: Standard indoor or outdoor cleaning duties with general equipment.
  • Cleaner Grade 2: Cleaning requiring a higher level of skill or the use of specialised equipment.
  • Cleaner Grade 3 and above: Supervisory duties, leading hands, or specialist roles such as high-rise window cleaning.

Each classification attracts a different minimum base rate. Employees must be classified correctly at the point of engagement, not retrospectively. Misclassification is one of the most common sources of underpayment in the cleaning sector.

Ordinary hours and standard hours

For this article, standard hours means 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday.

Ordinary hours under the award are generally up to 38 per week for full-time employees, with the specific span of ordinary hours and any roster arrangements governed by the award's provisions. Cleaning operations that run outside standard hours, including early-morning office cleans, overnight hospital cleaning, or weekend retail centre work, will frequently attract penalties.

Penalty rates under the Cleaning Services Award

Penalties under MA000022 apply when employees work outside standard hours or on specified days. The key penalty provisions are:

Monday to Friday outside standard hours: Work performed before 6:00 am or after 6:00 pm on a weekday attracts a penalty above the ordinary hourly rate. Check the current award or the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool for the exact multiplier.

Saturday: Employees working on a Saturday receive a Saturday penalty applied to all hours worked on that day.

Sunday: Sunday work attracts a higher Sunday penalty than Saturday. All hours worked on a Sunday are paid at the Sunday rate.

Public holidays: Work on a public holiday attracts the highest penalty under the award. Employees who are rostered on a public holiday and not required to work may also have an entitlement to the day off with pay, depending on their engagement type.

Shift work: Employees engaged as shift workers may attract additional shift penalties or allowances depending on the type of shift.

Because cleaning rosters frequently span early mornings, late evenings, and weekends, a single employee can attract multiple penalty rates within the same week. Accurate time and attendance records are essential to calculating the correct gross pay for every shift.

Allowances to know

Beyond base rates and penalties, the Cleaning Services Award includes a number of allowances that add to payroll complexity:

  • Broken shift allowance: Payable when an employee works a broken shift (two separate periods of work within a day, with an unpaid break in between).
  • Disability allowance: For cleaning in particularly dirty or hazardous environments, such as hospitals or places where biohazard cleaning is required.
  • Vehicle allowance: Where employees are required to use their own vehicle to travel between work locations.
  • Uniform/laundry allowance: Where an employer requires a uniform and does not supply or launder it.

Allowances are reviewed by the Fair Work Commission and may be adjusted as part of annual wage review decisions. Confirm current allowance rates from the official award document.

Casual employees: how the loading works

Casual employees under the Cleaning Services Award receive a casual loading on top of their ordinary hourly rate. This loading compensates for the absence of paid leave entitlements such as annual leave and personal/carer's leave. When penalties apply, the casual loading is applied to the base rate before the penalty multiplier is applied, or in some cases the loading and penalty interact in a specific sequence, so payroll teams should confirm the correct calculation methodology with reference to the full award text or a payroll specialist.

Many cleaning businesses rely heavily on casual workforces, which makes accurate casual rate calculations particularly important for compliance.

Leave entitlements

Full-time and part-time employees under the award accrue standard National Employment Standards (NES) leave entitlements, including:

  • Four weeks of annual leave per year (with shift workers entitled to five weeks)
  • Ten days of paid personal/carer's leave per year
  • Community service leave and compassionate leave as per the NES

Casual employees do not accrue paid personal/carer's leave or annual leave, but do have access to unpaid carer's leave and compassionate leave.

Payday Super: what cleaning employers need to know now

From 1 July 2026, the Payday Super reforms require employers to pay superannuation contributions at the same time as wages, rather than quarterly. This change affects every employer covered by the Cleaning Services Award.

For cleaning businesses with large casual workforces and variable hours, the operational shift is significant. Super must now be calculated and remitted with each pay run, rather than accumulated and paid quarterly. Employers who have not updated their payroll processes to accommodate Payday Super are already out of compliance.

Humanforce Payroll is designed for Australian awards compliance, with Payday Super support built into the pay run process. If you are evaluating whether your current system is ready, the Humanforce Payroll product overview explains how the pay conditions engine and super processing work together.

Common compliance risks in cleaning payroll

The cleaning sector consistently appears in Fair Work Ombudsman enforcement actions. The most common compliance failures include:

  1. Incorrect classification: Employees classified below their actual duties and skill level.
  2. Penalty rate errors: Failing to apply the correct multiplier for early-morning, late-night, Saturday, Sunday, or public holiday work.
  3. Missing allowances: Broken shift, disability, and vehicle allowances frequently overlooked.
  4. Casual loading miscalculation: Applying the loading incorrectly when penalties also apply.
  5. Super underpayment: Calculating super on base wages only, excluding allowances and penalties that are also subject to the Super Guarantee.

A practical safeguard is to run a payroll audit at least annually, cross-referencing classifications, recorded hours, and allowance payments against the current award.

How Humanforce supports cleaning sector payroll compliance

Managing the Cleaning Services Award across a distributed, shift-based workforce is genuinely complex. Humanforce Payroll is built for Australian awards, with a pay conditions engine that interprets award rules, applies the correct rates and penalties to each shift, and calculates allowances automatically.

For businesses that also want visibility across rostering and time capture, Humanforce Workforce Management enables roster builds that account for award constraints before shifts are published, so managers can see the cost impact of scheduling decisions in real time rather than discovering compliance issues after the fact. You can read more about how the platform is designed for shift-based industries on the Humanforce workforce management overview.

For teams managing payroll compliance across large or distributed cleaning operations, the Humanforce HR and payroll solution provides a connected record across employee data, time capture, and pay — reducing the risk of errors that arise when systems are disconnected.

Frequently asked questions

Who does the Cleaning Services Award MA000022 cover?

The award covers employees in the commercial and contract cleaning industry in Australia, including general cleaners, leading hands, supervisors, and specialist cleaners such as window cleaners. It does not cover employees who clean their own employer's premises as an incidental activity.

When did the 2026 pay rate increase take effect?

The 2025–2026 Annual Wage Review increase applies from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. Any pay period commencing on or after that date must use the updated rates.

Do Saturday and Sunday penalties apply to all cleaners?

Yes. All employees working on a Saturday or Sunday, regardless of their classification, are entitled to the applicable Saturday or Sunday penalty rate under MA000022. The Sunday rate is higher than the Saturday rate.

Is the casual loading paid on top of penalty rates?

Generally yes, but the order in which the casual loading and penalty multipliers are applied affects the final amount. Employers should confirm the correct calculation sequence from the full award text or seek specialist payroll advice.

What is the broken shift allowance?

A broken shift allowance is payable when an employee works two separate periods of work within the same day with an unpaid break in between. This is common in the cleaning industry, where morning and evening cleans are scheduled for the same employee.

Does superannuation apply to allowances and penalty rates?

In most cases, yes. The Super Guarantee applies to ordinary time earnings, which for many cleaning employees includes certain allowances and penalties. Payroll teams should verify which components of gross pay are subject to super contributions under current ATO guidance.

How often are award pay rates updated?

The Fair Work Commission reviews award rates annually as part of the Annual Wage Review process. Changes typically take effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July each year. Employers should review and update their payroll settings each year after the decision is handed down.