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Fair Work award changes for automotive from 1 July 2026
The Vehicle Repair, Services and Retail Award changes on 1 July 2026. Here's what a workshop needs to check in payroll before the first pay run.
New minimum rates, updated tool and travel allowances, and revised casual conversion wording. The updates take effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
What to check in Marlin HR
- Rate tables against the Fair Work Commission's updated schedules.
- Tool allowance figures for apprentices and tradespersons.
- Overtime and weekend penalty triggers, particularly for Saturday tyre and battery work.
- Casual conversion eligibility for staff who've hit twelve months of regular hours.
What to check on paper
- Employment contracts that reference the old rate lines.
- Enterprise agreements sitting on top of the award: confirm the Better Off Overall Test still holds.
- Any hand-adjusted pay lines your last payroll person set up and never wrote down.
Timing
Confirm your updated tables by mid-June and dry-run one pay period before 1 July. A first-week correction is cheaper than three months of back-pay and a Fair Work query.
Book a demo if you'd rather Marlin HR read the schedules and set the tables for you.