Hairdressing apprentices
Starting an apprenticeship can be an exciting time. We also understand the unique challenges that can come with starting one.
Use our information and tools to make sure you understand your rights and responsibilities.
On this page
- Pay rates
- Pay slips
- Hours of work and breaks
- Leave
- Ending employment and notice
- Unpaid work
- Other apprentice entitlements
- Related information
Pay rates
Most apprentices in hairdressing are covered by the Hair and Beauty Award.
Under this award, pay rates for apprentices start at $13.58 for juniors and $25.65 for adults. They apply to an apprentice who:
- hasn’t completed year 12 at high school
- started their apprenticeship after 1 January 2014.
These rates apply from 1 July 2024 and can vary depending on:
- when the apprentice started
- if the apprentice finished year 12
- if the apprentice has completed a pre-apprenticeship
- if the apprentice was an adult or junior when they started the apprenticeship, an adult being someone who is 21 years or over.
Tip: Use our pay tools and guides
Download the Hair and Beauty Pay Guide to see what pay rate applies to you based on the factors above.
You can also use our Pay and Conditions Tool to calculate your pay rate, penalties and any allowances.
Weekends, public holidays and overtime
Apprentices also get higher pay rates for hours worked on weekends, public holidays or overtime. For example, a hairdressing apprentice working on Saturday would be entitled to an extra 33% of their pay.
Our Hair and Beauty Award Pay Guide and Pay and Conditions Tool can give you these rates as well for your apprenticeship.
Pay slips
Pay slips need to be given to all employees within one working day of pay day – even if the employee is on leave.
Pay slips can be given either electronically (for example, via email) or in hard copy.
Certain information needs to be put on a pay slip. This includes the pay period, the amount (both gross and net) and any penalty rates that apply.
For more information:
- visit our Pay slips page
- download our Pay slip templatePay slip template.
Hours of work and breaks
A full-time employee gets the following number of breaks, depending on the hours they actually work (not their rostered hours).
| Number of hours worked | Rest breaks | Meal breaks |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 5 hours | 0 | 0 |
| 5 or more hours | 2 | 1 |
Tip: Understand breaks
A rest break is a 10 minute paid break that counts as time worked.
A meal break is a 45 to 60 minute unpaid break that doesn't count as time worked. An employer and employee can agree to a 30 minute unpaid meal break.
Check all the rules for breaks from our Breaks page. Select 'hair and beauty' as your industry to get tailored information.
Record My Hours app
Our free Record My Hours app makes it quick and easy for employees to record the hours they work.
Employees can use the app to:
- record their hours of work and rosters
- take and add photos of information that belongs to the employee, like their own pay slips
- back-up information collected to iCloud or Dropbox and recover it easily.
Find out more at Record My Hours app.
Leave
All apprentices are entitled to leave.
Learn about the types of leave available and the rules that apply:
- annual leave
- sick and carer's leave
- compassionate and bereavement leave
- family and domestic violence leave.
You can use our Pay and Conditions Tool to calculate annual leave and sick and carer's leave balances.
For downloadable leave application templates and leave record templates, visit our Templates page.
Ending employment and notice
When starting an apprenticeship, the employer and apprentice should talk about whether the apprentice will stay on at the salon when the apprenticeship is completed. It’s important to talk about your intentions early on because it could determine whether an apprentice gets notice of termination.
A notice period is the length of time that an employee or employer has to give to end employment.
An apprentice will have to give or get notice of termination when they’re quitting or if they’re fired unless they're:
- employed for a set period of time or task, or
- fired for serious misconduct.
If an apprentice is only going to be employed for the time of their apprenticeship, they won't get notice of termination when it ends.
Tip: Check the employment contract
It can help to look at an employee's employment contract to see if they've been employed for a set period of time or task.
You can use our Notice and Redundancy Calculator to check notice periods. You can also access more information on ending employment from:
You should also check with your Registered Training Organisation and your state or territory training authority to find out what else you need to do to formally end your training contract.
Unpaid work
Apprentices have to be paid for all the time they've worked. This includes:
- time worked at the salon
- opening and closing the salon
- compulsory out-of-hours activities (for example, on-site training or meetings)
- off-the-job training related to the training contract (for example, at a Registered Training Organisation).
School-based apprentices get paid differently for time spent in training. Find out more on Apprentice entitlements page and selecting the ‘hair and beauty’ industry to get tailored information.
In the hair and beauty industry, unpaid work arrangements typically include:
- work trials - testing a person's job skills
- work experience - giving a person experience in a job or industry as part of a vocational placement.
There are rules about when unpaid work is allowed and when someone should be getting paid.
To find out more about unpaid work in the hairdressing industry, access our Unpaid work - hair and beauty industry fact sheet.
Other apprentice entitlements
Visit the Apprentice entitlements page and select ‘hair and beauty’ from the industry list to find out about other entitlements including:
- pay increases during an apprenticeship
- payment for overtime and shiftwork
- reimbursements for training costs such as fees and textbooks
- payments for certain travel costs to and from training.
Starting a new job – online course
We have free and fast online training apprentices can take on starting a new job.
Our course is interactive and will take about 20-30 minutes to complete. It will help apprentices learn about their workplace rights and how to prepare for their first day.
The course can be completed on a computer and most tablets and mobiles.
Access the course now: Starting a new job.
