Funeral Industry Award
Covers the funeral industry - funeral services, coffin manufacturing, removal of deceased human remains and ancillary services. EXCLUDES the cemetery industry (covered by MA000070). 6 classifications (Grades 1-6), single sector, standard rate Grade 5. No junior rates and no apprentice scale.
Fully built. Rates, allowances, penalties and any required apprentice / junior rates are all wired to the rate resolver and have been verified against the consolidated award text and the latest pay guide.
What's built
- All 6 cl. 15.1 grades at the July 2025 figures.
- Casual loading 25% with 4-hour minimum engagement (cl. 11.3) - paid 4h even if less work is performed (cl. 11.4).
- PT minimum engagement 3 consecutive hours per shift (cl. 10.5).
- Allowances: stand-by Mon-Fri ($16.03 per period) and Sat / Sun / PH ($34.19 per period), exhumation ($114.32 per body), two leading-hand tiers (3-10 staff at $42.74/wk, 11-19 staff at $64.10/wk), meal-OT, tool (coffin manufacturing), vehicle.
- Hours of work - 38h / week averaged over 4-week cycle; Mon-Fri ordinary; Sat / Sun / PH at penalty rates.
Known limitations
- Casual OT loading-INCLUSIVE (cl 19.1(b)) - resolver must NOT apply 25% casual loading on top of cl 19.1(b) OT rates (FT/PT 150/200 vs Casual 175/225 already includes the 25%).
- Removals (cl 19.4) require runtime detection of removal-work flag + window detection (7pm-midnight vs midnight-7am) - different rate per window. FT-only min 2h applies.
- Shiftworker OT (cl 20.6 / 20.7) excludes cl 20.5 shift penalty - resolver must NOT stack 120%/150% shift loading on top of OT rates.
- Saturday funeral-work alternative (cl 21.1(a)(ii)): runtime selection between standard 150% first 3h / 200% after with min 2h vs alternative min 4h @ 150% per engagement.
- PH SUBSTITUTES cl 20.5 shift penalty for shiftworkers (cl 21.1(c)(ii)) - do NOT stack 120%/150% on top of 200% PH rate.
- Right to disconnect stand-by exception (cl 13A.4) - engine must check cl 17.2(a) stand-by allowance status before allowing employee to refuse contact.
Setup & special instructions
- Coverage EXCLUDES the cemetery industry - that's MA000070. Don't assign funeral employees to MA000070 or vice versa.
- There are NO junior rates and NO apprentice scale - National Training Wage via NES only.
- Stand-by allowance differs by day: Mon-Fri at $16.03 per period vs Sat / Sun / PH at $34.19 per period. Exhumation is a per-body fee.
- Casual loading 25% (cl 11.1(b)) with min 4h per engagement - paid 4h even if less work performed (cl 11.4).
- PT min 3 consecutive hrs per shift (cl 10.5).
- Removals (cl 19.4): 7pm-midnight FT/PT 150% first 3h / 200% after; Casual 175%/225% (loading-inc). Midnight-7am FT/PT 200%; Casual 225%. FT-only min 2h payment (cl 19.4(d)).
- Subsequent removal request after 7pm uses cl 19.4 rate even if original removal started in ord span (cl 19.4(c)).
- Saturday alternative for funeral work: min 4h @ 150% (cl 21.1(a)(ii)) - instead of standard 150% first 3h / 200% after with min 2h.
- Public holiday SUBSTITUTES the cl 20.5 shift penalty for shiftworkers (cl 21.1(c)(ii)) - do not stack 120%/150% on top of 200%.
- Cl 14.1 rest after early morning work: employee engaged 4+ hrs between midnight and 7am entitled to 8 consecutive hrs off duty after finishing work without loss of pay for ord hours during the rest period.
- Right to disconnect (cl 13A) - TWO award-specific exceptions: cl 13A.4 stand-by (must respond if being paid stand-by allowance under cl 17.2(a)); cl 13A.5 recall to work under cl 19.1(c) or 19.4.
- 3 default super funds per cl 18.4 PR794794 ppc 23Jan26: AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust, CareSuper.
- • Funeral industry
- • Funeral services
- • Coffin manufacturing
- • Removal of deceased remains
- • Funeral director
- • Funeral assistant
The consolidated award text is the authoritative source. Always confirm specific obligations against the award itself - Mployr's implementation status reflects what we've seeded; it does not replace legal advice.
Want to see this award running on your data?
We can demo a pay run on the funeral industry award using sample employees in a sandbox tenant - including any of the special-instruction steps above so you can see exactly what your team's day-to-day looks like.
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