Cleaner Employee Charge-Out Rate: What You Need to Bill
Calculate what to charge for employee cleaning time after Award wages, super, leave, non-billable hours, travel, payroll overhead and business margin.
Key takeaways
- Start with the correct Award classification and employment type.
- Add super and every applicable employment on-cost.
- Divide by realistic billable hours, not every paid hour.
- Payday Super changes cash timing from 1 July 2026.
An employee's hourly wage is not the amount the customer can be charged. The business also carries super, leave, workers compensation, payroll administration, non-billable time, travel, equipment and supervision. A charge-out rate has to recover the complete employment cost before it creates any return for the business.
Start with the current legal rate
The Cleaning Services Award 2020 contains minimum rates by classification, employment type, time and day.
As at 1 July 2026, the published Level 1 ordinary rates include:
- full-time day rate: A$27.08 per hour
- part-time day rate: A$31.14 per hour, including the Award's part-time allowance structure
- casual weekday day rate: A$33.85 per hour, including casual loading
Wage is only the first line
Depending on employment type and location, the business may also carry:
- 12% super guarantee on qualifying earnings under the current rules
- paid annual leave and personal leave for permanent employees
- workers compensation premiums
- payroll software and administration
- uniforms and equipment
- training and supervision
- travel between jobs
- paid time that cannot be billed to customers
- allowances, overtime and penalty rates
Do not use one casual loading percentage as a substitute for costing a permanent employee properly.
Payday Super affects cash flow
From 1 July 2026, employers are required to pay super guarantee contributions with salary and wages under the Payday Super reforms.
The annual cost is not created by the timing change, but the business can no longer rely on holding quarterly super liabilities in the same way. Customer payment terms and payroll timing need to support more frequent outflows.
Calculate loaded labour cost
A simplified formula is:
Loaded annual employment cost ÷ annual productive billable hours = labour cost per billable hour
Loaded annual employment cost includes the wage and relevant on-costs.
Productive billable hours exclude leave, training, internal meetings, travel that is not recovered and other paid time that customers do not fund directly.
Worked example
This example is illustrative and deliberately simplified.
A casual Level 1 cleaner works ordinary weekday hours at A$33.85. Super at 12% adds about A$4.06, bringing wage plus super to about A$37.91 per paid hour before workers compensation, payroll, equipment, supervision, travel and non-billable time.
If only 75% of paid time is recoverable through customer work, wage plus super alone becomes:
A$37.91 ÷ 0.75 = A$50.55 per billable hour
Add A$8 per billable hour for other overhead and direct support costs, and the cost base becomes A$58.55.
A 20% margin on the final sale price is not created by adding 20% to cost. To achieve a 20% gross margin on the selling price:
Required charge-out rate = cost ÷ 0.80
A$58.55 ÷ 0.80 = A$73.19 per billable hour before GST
This is not a recommended market rate. It shows why charging A$45 for employee time can fail even when the wage appears much lower.
The bottom line
Start with the correct Award classification and employment type. Add super and every applicable employment on-cost. Divide by realistic billable hours, not every paid hour. Payday Super changes cash timing from 1 July 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to common questions about this topic.
That usually ignores super, leave, workers compensation, non-billable time and overhead. Calculate the complete cost first.
Sources and further reading
We prioritise official, primary, and current sources. Links were last checked on the dates shown.
- Cleaning Services Award 2020 — Fair Work Ombudsman. Checked 2 August 2026.
- Paying employees — Fair Work Ombudsman. Checked 2 August 2026.
- Payday Super — Australian Taxation Office. Checked 2 August 2026.
About the author
Tidyly Editorial Team
The Tidyly Editorial Team creates practical guidance for Australian cleaning businesses using product experience, first-party examples, and current primary sources.
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