What does it really cost to employ a stylist in Australia?

Start with the award

Almost every salon employee is covered by the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020. It sets the floor for pay by level, from a receptionist or salon assistant at Level 1 to a Diploma-qualified beauty therapist at Level 6. There is no manager level: whoever runs the salon for a full week is paid their own level plus an allowance. A qualified hairdresser (Certificate III) is Level 3 and a beauty therapist with a Certificate IV is Level 4. Level 3 pays $29.45 an hour from 1 July 2026, against a national minimum wage of $26.44. Rates change every 1 July after the Annual Wage Review. Most experienced stylists are paid above the award: senior roles were advertised at $35 to $40 an hour plus commission in 2026.

What you pay on top of the wage

• Super. 12% of ordinary time earnings, on top of the wage, and since 1 July 2026 it has to reach their fund within seven business days of each payday.
• Annual leave. 4 weeks a year, paid, with 17.5% leave loading on top under the award.
• Personal leave. 10 days a year of paid sick and carer's leave for full-time staff, pro rata for part-time.
• Public holidays. Paid if it's a day they'd normally work, whether you open or not. The count depends on your state: 13 a year in New South Wales, 14 in Victoria, 12 in Queensland, 13 in South Australia, 13 in Western Australia, 9 in Tasmania, 15 in the ACT and 13 in the Northern Territory, counting statewide days only.
• Workers comp. A premium on wages set by your state's scheme and your industry, and on the super too in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. For hair and beauty the published 2026-27 rates run from about 1.1% of wages in Queensland to 2.8% in the ACT. Your renewal notice has your exact figure.
• Payroll tax. Only once your total wages pass your state's threshold, from $1,000,000 a year in Victoria to $2,500,000 in the Northern Territory. Most salons are well under it.
• Long service leave. State law, usually after 7 to 10 years. Easy to forget, and worth setting a little aside for.

Casuals, weekends and evenings

A casual gets no paid leave and a 25% loading on every hour instead. Weekends cost more for everyone: under the award a full-time or part-time stylist is paid 133% of their ordinary rate on a Saturday and 200% on a Sunday, and a casual 158% and 225% with their loading included. Ordinary hours run to 9pm on weekdays. Past that, a full-time or part-time stylist is on overtime (150% for the first three hours, then 200%), and a casual is paid 150%. In a salon where Saturday is the biggest day, that's a real chunk of the wage bill, not a rounding error.

One stylist, worked through

Take a Level 3 stylist on the award, full-time at 38 hours a week, Monday to Friday. Their pay is 38 hours at $29.45, every week of the year, leave included.

Now add what sits on top of every dollar of that pay: 12% super, leave loading (worth about 1.3% of annual pay once the 17.5% on four weeks is spread over the year) and workers comp at around 1.5% (on the super as well as the pay in most of the big states). Together that's about a seventh again on top of the wage, and closer to a sixth if you set aside for long service leave too.

Then count the weeks you pay for and don't get. Four weeks of annual leave, two weeks of personal leave if they use it, and two to three weeks of public holidays add up to around eight or nine weeks a year on full pay with nobody in the chair. So a year's wages, plus the on-costs, has to be earned in the 43 or 44 weeks they're actually working.

Put the two together and every hour that stylist is on the floor costs you roughly a third more than the award rate on the payslip. Before a single Saturday, before any commission, and before the hours their book isn't full, each of which pushes the real cost per client hour higher again.

And then the ramp-up

A new stylist rarely starts with a full book. For the first few months you're paying their whole wage, super included, while their takings build. That's the cash most owners forget to set aside, and it's why a hire that makes sense on paper can still squeeze the bank account.

The questions worth answering before you post the job ad: how much do they need to bring in each week to pay their way, how many months until they get there, and how much cash do you need sitting in the bank to get through that stretch?

Where to check the rules

The award, its penalty rates and the National Employment Standards are on fairwork.gov.au, and the Fair Work pay guide for the award lists every level. Super rules are on the ATO's site. Every figure on this page comes from the rates list our Australian tools run on, updated each 1 July.

General information, not employment, tax or financial advice. Awards and leave depend on each person's employment, so confirm anything that matters with Fair Work or your payroll provider.