Cafe Employment Contract Template: Award Clauses To Include

What should actually go into your cafe employment contract template before you hand it to a new barista, cook or counter staff member?

The reassuring answer is this: you don't need a 40-page legal document to hire properly. But you do need a contract that matches the right award, your roster practices and the way your cafe or takeaway really operates.

Hospitality hiring moves quickly. Someone might trial on Tuesday, start on Friday and be on the Saturday rush before you have had a chance to think about penalty rates or breaks. A well-drafted contract helps you get the basics right from day one and avoid awkward pay, roster and entitlement disputes later.

Which Award Applies To Cafe Staff In Australia?

It depends on what your business actually does, but many cafe employees are covered by the Restaurant Industry Award 2020 or the Fast Food Industry Award 2020.

The award matters because your contract can't undercut it. If your written agreement says one thing and the award or the Fair Work Act 2009 says another, the employee will generally still be entitled to the higher legal minimum.

As a starting point, think about your business model:

• Restaurant Industry Award 2020: often relevant for cafes, restaurants, coffee shops and similar venues where the business mainly sells food and drinks for consumption on the premises.
• Fast Food Industry Award 2020: often relevant for quick-service takeaway businesses, food court style operations and fast service models where food or drinks are prepared for immediate consumption.
• Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020: may apply to some hospitality venues, especially if the business is attached to hotels, accommodation or broader hospitality operations.

Say you run a cafe in Brisbane that serves breakfast, coffee and table service seven days a week. Your baristas and floor staff may fall under the Restaurant Industry Award rather than the Fast Food Award. But if you run a small takeaway outlet in a food court selling pre-set menu items over the counter, the Fast Food Award may be a better fit.

This award coverage is worth checking before you use any cafe employee contract in Australia. The wrong award can mean the wrong classification, hourly rate, penalty rates, allowances, breaks and minimum shift lengths.

What Should A Cafe Employment Contract Template Include?

Your cafe employment contract template should cover the employee's role, award coverage, employment type, pay, hours, breaks, policies and key legal protections for your business.

A template can be a useful starting point, but it shouldn't be treated as a finished document. Cafe rosters, opening hours and roles vary a lot, so a lawyer should tailor the contract before you use it with your team.

Fill-In Outline For Your Cafe Employment Contract

1. Parties: write your business name, ABN or ACN, and the employee's full legal name.
2. Position And Duties: describe the role, such as barista, cook, cafe all-rounder or shift supervisor, and include flexible duties that are reasonable for the role.
3. Award And Classification: name the likely modern award and classification level that applies to the employee.
4. Employment Type: state whether the role is full-time, part-time or casual, and make sure the rest of the contract matches that choice.
5. Start Date And Probation: include the commencement date and any probation period, commonly 3 or 6 months.
6. Hours And Roster: set out ordinary hours, roster notice, availability expectations and how changes will be handled.
7. Pay And Entitlements: state the base rate or salary, pay cycle, superannuation, casual loading if relevant, and that award penalties and allowances will be paid where they apply.
8. Breaks: explain meal and rest break arrangements by reference to the applicable award and your roster process.
9. Policies: refer to workplace policies, such as food safety, uniform, bullying and harassment, social media, drugs and alcohol, and mobile phone use.
10. Confidentiality And IP: protect recipes, supplier information, systems, branding, photos, menus and other business information.
11. Termination And Notice: include notice rules that match at least the National Employment Standards and the award.

The biggest trap is using a generic hospitality employment contract without filling in the award and classification properly. That missing detail can cause the most expensive problems.

How Do I Choose The Right Classification And Pay Rate?

You choose the classification by matching the employee's real duties and skill level to the award classification definitions, not just by giving the role a title.

For example, calling someone a cafe assistant doesn't answer the award question. You need to look at what they actually do each shift.

Common cafe roles can include:

• taking orders and serving customers
• making coffee and other drinks
• basic food preparation
• cooking or baking
• opening or closing the venue
• supervising junior staff
• handling cash, tills and end-of-day processes

A new staff member doing basic counter service may sit at a different classification from an experienced barista who trains others and runs the floor. A cook with trade-level duties may be classified differently again.

Once you identify the classification, you then check the current minimum rate under the award. Award rates usually change from the first full pay period on or after 1 July each year after the Fair Work Commission's annual wage review. You should also check whether junior rates, apprentice or trainee rules, allowances, weekend penalties, public holiday penalties or overtime rates apply.

For casual staff, many modern awards include a 25% casual loading instead of paid annual leave and paid personal/carer's leave. Your contract should state the loading clearly, rather than simply saying the employee is paid an hourly rate.

If you pay an all-inclusive hourly rate or salary, be careful. You need to make sure the employee is still better off overall than they would be under the award for the hours they actually work.

What Hours And Roster Clauses Should You Include?

Your contract should explain the employee's ordinary hours, availability, roster process and what happens when shifts change.

Under the National Employment Standards, full-time employees generally have a maximum of 38 ordinary hours per week, plus reasonable additional hours. Awards then add more detail about ordinary hours, overtime, span of hours, rostered days off and penalties.

Your contract should deal with practical roster points such as:

• your usual trading days and opening hours
• whether work may be required on weekends or public holidays
• how much availability the employee needs to provide
• how rosters are published, such as by app, email or noticeboard
• how employees request unavailable days or time off
• how you'll handle last-minute changes, sick calls and shift swaps

Part-Time Staff Need Extra Care

Part-time cafe staff usually need agreed ordinary hours or a clear roster arrangement under the relevant award. If you treat a part-time employee like a casual, but don't pay casual loading, you can end up with underpayment issues.

For part-time employees, record the written part-time arrangement required by the applicable award. Depending on the award, this may include:

• the guaranteed minimum hours
• the days of work and ordinary hours for each day
• start and finish times
• availability or limits on availability
• meal break timing and duration
• how agreed variations to the arrangement will be recorded
• whether overtime or penalties may apply when hours go beyond the agreed arrangement

Casual Staff Still Need Clear Rules

A casual employment contract for cafe staff should say there's no firm advance commitment to ongoing work and that shifts may vary. Since changes to the Fair Work Act from 26 August 2024, the legal definition of casual employment focuses on whether there's no firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work, looking at the real substance of the arrangement.

That means the contract matters, but your actual rostering practices matter too. If a casual has the same fixed shifts every week for a long period, you should review whether the arrangement still fits.

How Should You Deal With Penalty Rates, Overtime And Breaks?

Your contract shouldn't try to rewrite award penalty, overtime or break rules. Instead, it should clearly say those entitlements will be paid or provided where they apply.

For cafes, the busiest shifts are often the shifts with extra rules: early mornings, late nights, weekends and public holidays. This is where clear award compliance and a tidy payroll setup really help.

Your contract should cover:

• Weekend work: state that Saturday and Sunday work may be required and that applicable award penalties will be paid.
• Public holidays: explain that work on public holidays may be requested where lawful and paid under the award.
• Overtime: refer to overtime when hours exceed award limits, agreed part-time hours or roster rules.
• Allowances: check whether laundry, uniform, meal or other allowances apply under the relevant award.
• Breaks: set out how meal and rest breaks are rostered and recorded.

Under the Restaurant Industry Award and Fast Food Industry Award, a shift of 5 hours or more generally requires an unpaid meal break of at least 30 minutes. Break rules differ across awards, so check the applicable award for the exact threshold, timing and any paid rest breaks.

Here is a simple worked example. Mia runs a Melbourne cafe and asks Leo, a casual barista, to work 8.00 am to 2.30 pm on Saturday. That's a 6.5 hour shift. Mia needs to check the right award for Leo's classification, pay the casual rate with the 25% loading, apply any Saturday penalty rate required by the award, and make sure Leo receives the required meal and rest breaks. If Leo misses a required break because the cafe is short-staffed, Mia should record what happened and check whether extra payment is required under the award.

Good rostering isn't just an admin habit. It protects your cash flow because you can price labour costs properly before the weekend rush.

Do I Need Probation, Policies And Casual Conversion Clauses?

Yes, these clauses are worth including, but they need to be drafted carefully so they don't overpromise or conflict with workplace laws.

Probation

A probation period lets you assess whether the new hire is the right fit. Many cafe contracts use a probation period of 3 or 6 months.

Probation doesn't remove the employee's minimum entitlements. You still need to pay the correct award rate, superannuation, penalties and leave entitlements. It also doesn't automatically override unfair dismissal rules. The minimum employment period for unfair dismissal claims is generally 6 months, or 12 months for small business employers with fewer than 15 employees.

Policies

Your contract should say the employee must follow your workplace policies, but you should usually keep the policies separate from the contract. That gives you room to update them as your business grows.

Useful cafe policies include:

• food safety and hygiene
• uniform and presentation
• cash handling
• work health and safety
• bullying, harassment and discrimination
• mobile phone and social media use
• security, keys and alarm codes

Casual Conversion

Casual conversion has changed in recent years, so your contract shouldn't rely on old wording. Under the current Fair Work Act rules, an eligible casual employee can notify you if they believe they should change to permanent employment after 6 months, or after 12 months if you're a small business employer.

You generally need to respond in writing within 21 days. You may be able to refuse on fair and reasonable operational grounds, but the reason needs to be genuine and properly explained.

For small business employers, the employee choice pathway started from 26 August 2025. If you're using an older casual employment contract for cafe staff, this is a good time to have the clause checked.

Common Mistakes To Avoid With Cafe Employment Contracts

The most common mistake is treating the contract as a formality, when it should be a practical record of how the job will actually work.

Watch out for these issues:

• Using the wrong award: a fast food award employment contract won't necessarily suit a table-service cafe, and a restaurant contract won't always suit a quick-service takeaway.
• Leaving out the classification: without it, it's much harder to prove how you chose the pay rate.
• Calling someone casual but rostering them like permanent staff: your written contract and real work pattern should line up.
• Forgetting breaks: missed breaks can create underpayment problems, especially during busy weekends.
• Not updating rates after 1 July: award minimum rates can change each year, so payroll should be reviewed regularly.
• Putting every workplace rule in the contract: detailed rules often work better as policies you can update.
• Using overseas templates: they usually won't refer to the Fair Work Act, National Employment Standards, Australian awards, superannuation or local payroll rules.

You should also keep signed copies of contracts, roster records, timesheets, payslips and any agreed changes to hours. The Fair Work Ombudsman expects employers to keep proper employee records, and those records can be your best evidence if a pay question comes up later.

If you make a change to someone's role, classification, employment type or guaranteed hours, confirm it in writing. A short signed variation can save a lot of confusion.

Key Takeaways

• Your cafe employment contract should name the right award, classification and employment type before the employee starts.
• Many cafe roles fall under the Restaurant Industry Award 2020 or Fast Food Industry Award 2020, but the right answer depends on your business model and the employee's duties.
• Casual contracts need to match the current Fair Work Act rules, including the 25% casual loading and employee choice pathway for eligible casuals.
• Your roster clause should cover ordinary hours, availability, weekends, public holidays, shift changes and part-time guaranteed hours.
• Penalty rates, overtime, allowances and breaks should be handled by reference to the applicable award, not guessed from another cafe's template.
• Policies for food safety, uniform, WHS, social media and conduct work best when they sit alongside the contract.

If you'd like help with your cafe employment contracts, award classifications, casual staff arrangements or rostering policies, you can reach us at 1800 730 617 or team@sprintlaw.com.au for a free, no-obligations chat.