MA000010CurrentManufacturing and production

Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award

The Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award reaches much further than a production line. The most important compliance tasks are mapping the work carefully against the award's broad coverage language, documenting part-time and casual arrangements properly, controlling weekend and spread of hours arrangements, classifying employees accurately across the C, V and D streams, and building any all-purpose allowances into payroll instead of treating them as optional extras.

Consolidated through: 1 July 2026
Source checked: 1 August 2026
Official source: Current award

01Who this award covers

This is one of the broadest modern awards, but breadth does not remove the need for careful matching. It covers employees in the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations who fall within its classifications, and clause 4.8 reaches manufacturing, assembly, processing, fabrication, repair, refurbishment, reconditioning, maintenance, installation, testing, fault finding, despatch, distribution and related transport work. Even so, the real task is to test the actual work against the industries, occupations and classifications in the award and then ask whether another award contains a more appropriate classification.

Businesses and work usually covered

Manufacture, making, assembly, processing, treatment, fabrication and preparation of covered products, structures, articles, parts and materials.
Repair, refurbishment, reconditioning, maintenance, installation, testing and fault finding of covered items, plant, equipment and buildings.
Mechanical and electrical engineering work and related handling, packing, despatch, distribution and transport connected with the covered industries.
On-hire employees and group training arrangements within the covered industries, subject to the award's exclusions.

When another award or arrangement may apply

Employers outside the scope of clause 4.8(a) or 4.8(b), unless clause 4.8(c) work is being done and no more appropriate award applies.
Exempt employers and employees dealt with in clause 4.10.
Employees excluded from award coverage by the Fair Work Act.
Employees covered by a modern enterprise award or enterprise instrument.
Employees covered by a State reference public sector modern award or transitional award.

02Roles and classifications

The award contains classification levels that connect an employee's duties, skills and responsibility to a minimum rate. Common role descriptions include:

Production and engineering employees in C14 to C2(b) classifications
Vehicle manufacturing employees in V1 to V14 classifications
Drivers in D1 to D4 classifications
Tradespersons and apprentices
Trainees and adult apprentices

A familiar job title is only a starting point. Match the employee's real duties against the classification definitions and keep a written record of the level selected.

03Rules employers need to check

Map The Work Before Using The Award

cl 4.1, 4.4, 4.5, 4.7 - 4.8

Coverage under this award is broad but not automatic. The business needs to identify the actual operations being carried out and then test whether the employee's work fits the award's industry or occupational reach, or whether another award contains the more appropriate classification.

Do not stop at the company name or the presence of a workshop.
Test the actual work against the industries, operations and occupations listed in clause 4.8.
Check on-hire and group training situations separately because the award can pick up both.

Document Part Time And Casual Arrangements

cl 10.1 - 10.9, 11.1 - 11.3

This award expects structured engagement records. A part-time or casual arrangement that only exists in a supervisor's head or in a roster app is not enough when the award requires written hours, classifications and minimum engagement compliance.

For part-time employees, agree the hours, days, start and finish times and classification in writing before the employment starts.
Keep copies of part-time agreements and written variations and give a copy to the employee.
For both part-time and casual employees, check the minimum engagement rules and the limited ability to reduce them where the employee requests it.

Control Rosters And Spread Of Hours

cl 17.2(a), 17.2(c), 17.2(d), 17.2(e)

Rostering is one of the biggest compliance traps in this award. Employers often assume that weekend work or changed spread arrangements can be treated informally, but the award distinguishes between ordinary hours by valid agreement, work outside the spread, and later consultation obligations.

Day workers ordinarily average 38 hours per week, with a cap over 28 days unless another award mechanism applies.
Ordinary hours are usually worked Monday to Friday, but Saturday and Sunday ordinary hours are possible if the required agreement is in place.
The usual spread is 6.00 am to 6.00 pm and can only be shifted within the award limits by the required agreement.
Changes to regular rosters or hours are subject to the consultative provisions.

Classify Employees Before You Price The Role

cl 20.1, 22, 24, Schedule A

Classification is the foundation issue under this award because the whole wage structure is built around levels and streams. A small classification error can distort the minimum rate, overtime calculations, leave payments and allowance treatment across a long period.

Tie pay to the correct stream and level before building payroll codes.
Separate general production and engineering classifications, vehicle manufacturing classifications, driver classifications, apprentices and trainees.
Recheck classification whenever duties change, especially where the employee starts doing larger vehicle work, higher level trade work or technical responsibilities.

Build All Purpose Allowances Into Payroll

cl 30.1, 30.2

Manufacturing payroll is often wrong not because the base rate is missed, but because the allowance architecture is incomplete. The award makes some allowances all-purpose, which means they must be built into later calculations rather than treated as isolated extras.

Check whether the employee is entitled to any of the all-purpose allowances in clause 30.2.
Examples include leading hand, ship repairing, tool, technical computing, supervisor, trainer or coordinator technical, and artificial fertilizers and chemicals allowances.
Where an allowance is all-purpose, make sure it flows through to penalties, loadings and annual leave pay where the award requires that.

Separate Ordinary Time From Overtime And Public Holiday Time

cl 10.8, 17.2(f), 17.2(g), 17.2(h)

Do not collapse overtime, agreed weekend ordinary work and public holiday work into one catch all payroll code. The award uses different legal triggers and different outcomes for each, and those differences matter in audits and underpayment reviews.

Part-time hours worked beyond the agreed written hours are overtime.
Work outside the spread of hours is overtime unless a specific award exception applies.
Agreed weekend ordinary hours for day workers are treated differently from overtime.
Public holiday work carries its own minimum payment rule.

Check Driver Work Separately

cl B.17.1, B.17.2, B.17.3, B.17.4

Driver work is easy to overlook in a manufacturing business because it can appear secondary to production. The award does not treat it that way. It provides distinct driver levels, so a business should check transport duties carefully instead of assuming every driver fits the same label.

Driver classifications are not generic.
The award links driver levels to vehicle mass and articulated vehicle work.
If dispatch, warehouse or maintenance staff start performing larger or more complex driving work, review the classification before simply adding driving duties to the old role.

04Pay rates, penalties and allowances

The safest way to check a current rate is to start with the employee's classification, employment type and working pattern, then use Fair Work's current pay guide or Pay and Conditions Tool. Rates can change after an Annual Wage Review or an award variation.

Open the official pay guideFair Work Ombudsman Calculate pay and conditionsFair Work Pay and Conditions Tool

05Common workplace examples

A service team spends most of its time maintaining equipment at client sites

The coverage clause expressly reaches repair, maintenance, installation, testing and fault finding of plant, equipment and buildings. That means the award can still be relevant even when the host business is not itself a manufacturer, but the employer still has to check whether another award provides the more appropriate classification for the work being done. The correct answer comes from the duties and setting, not from a broad label like service technician.

A workshop regularly asks a part time employee to stay back beyond the agreed shift

A part-time employee must have a written agreement covering hours, days, start and finish times and classification. If the employer regularly requires hours beyond that agreement, the award points to overtime. Changing the roster after the fact without a written variation creates both payroll risk and record keeping risk, because the employer may struggle to show where ordinary part-time time ended and overtime began.

A dispatch employee starts doing larger articulated vehicle runs

The driver definitions in Schedule A are tied to vehicle size and articulated vehicle work, not just a general driver title. If an employee moves from smaller vehicles into larger or articulated vehicle runs, the classification question should be checked again before payroll keeps using the earlier level. That review matters even if the employee still spends part of the week in the same dispatch role.

06Recent changes to this award

PR799280, PR799291, PR799448

The current consolidated award incorporates these recent variation determinations. Use the consolidated wording when checking any affected clause, schedule, rate or allowance.

Affected: 20 - Minimum rates, 21 - Apprentice minimum rates, 24 - Trainee minimum rates, 30 - Allowances and special rates, 54 - Allowances and related matters - vehicle manufacturing employees, 57 - Overtime - vehicle manufacturing employees, Schedule C - Summary of Hourly Rates, Schedule D - Summary of Monetary Allowances, Schedule E - Supported Wage System, Schedule G - National Training Wage

07What to do next

01Review each production, maintenance, warehouse and driver role against clause 4 coverage before selecting this award.
02Record part-time hours, days, start and finish times and classification in writing before the employee starts.
03Check whether weekend work is ordinary time by valid agreement or should be treated as overtime.
04Create payroll rules for all-purpose allowances so they flow into leave and penalty calculations.
05Separate apprentices, adult apprentices, trainees and drivers from the general C level stream before building pay codes.
06Consult before changing regular rosters or hours of work.
07Recheck classification whenever a role picks up larger vehicle work, higher trade duties or supervisory responsibilities.

08Common questions

Is this award only for factory production work?

No. The coverage clause reaches far more than factory line production. It extends to repair, refurbishment, reconditioning, maintenance, installation, testing and fault finding, as well as handling, packing, despatch, distribution and transport connected with the covered industries. A business can therefore be touched by this award even where much of the work happens in workshops, warehouses or at client sites rather than on a traditional production line.

How do the classifications work under this award?

The award uses several classification streams. The main rate structure includes C levels for production and engineering employees, V levels for vehicle manufacturing employees and D levels for drivers. The driver definitions in Schedule A are tied to vehicle size and articulated vehicle work, which means an employee's transport duties can change the correct classification. A business should classify by the award structure, not by an internal title alone.

Do part-time and casual shifts need minimum lengths?

Usually, yes. A part-time employee must generally be engaged and paid for a minimum of 4 consecutive hours per shift, although the employee may request and the employer may agree to no less than 3 consecutive hours to meet the employee's personal circumstances. That agreement has to be recorded. The same minimum engagement pattern also matters for casuals, with the award allowing a reduced minimum only where the employee requests it and the employer agrees.

Can we just pay allowances as separate extras and ignore them in later calculations?

No. Clause 30.2 identifies several all-purpose allowances, and those allowances are included in the rate of pay of an employee who is entitled to them when calculating penalties, loadings or annual leave pay. That means a payroll setup can be wrong even if the base classification is correct, because the allowance has to flow through to later calculations when the award says it is all-purpose.

Can this award still apply if the business has an enterprise agreement or only part of the work looks like manufacturing?

Not automatically. The award excludes employees covered by a modern enterprise award or enterprise instrument, and it also has specific coverage boundaries and exempt employer rules inside clause 4. Even within a covered business, if another award contains a more appropriate classification for the work actually being performed, that matters. The right award outcome depends on the duties, the setting and the classification fit.

Official sources and related help

Official sources

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