Changes to the Restaurant, Tearoom and Catering Workers Award

Changes to the state Restaurant, Tearoom and Catering Workers Award commenced on 31 July 2025, as the award provisions were updated by the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission (WAIRC). The changes apply to employers and employees in the WA state industrial relations system.

The updated provisions better reflect contemporary arrangements and many outdated and obsolete provisions have been removed to make it easier for employers and employees to understand and comply with the award. The award has also been renamed to the Restaurant, Café and Catering (WA) Award.

This WA award update is part of a process being undertaken by the WAIRC to review various private sector WA awards.

Updates to award provisions

The key changes to the award include:

• the removal of the current introductory classification and updated classification descriptions which better describe the actual duties performed and skills required at each level;
• expressing all pay rates as weekly rates, rather than fortnightly pay rates;
• clarification of junior rates, to ensure workers who are 19 or younger receive a percentage of the appropriate adult rate for their relevant classification;
• changes to ensure that all leave conditions are not below the minimum standards in the Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993;
• modernisation of allowance provisions so that most allowances become self-updating;
• removal of inconsistencies with state employment laws and those provisions of the national Fair Work Act 2009 which apply to state system employers and employees; and
• updates to the wording of the hours of duty and meal breaks clauses to reflect the current parameters of the award, but with greater clarity.

Amendments have also been made to remove obsolete references and update a variety of provisions to ensure that the award reflects contemporary practices in the industry.

In addition, the award has been restructured into a user-friendly format, with like clauses grouped together under functional headings and clause headings hyperlinked for ease of reference.

The updated Wageline WA award summary is now available.