My Hospitality Pay Doesn't Match My Roster
Last updated: March 2026 · MA000009
If your pay doesn't match your roster, the shortfall is almost certainly owed to you. Discrepancies between what's on the roster and what appears on the payslip are often a sign that hours weren't recorded correctly, penalty rates for certain days weren't applied, or shifts were trimmed on paper. The award requires you to be paid for every hour you actually worked at the correct rate.
If you've noticed a difference between your roster and your pay — this applies to you.
The most common causes of roster/pay mismatches
Hours trimmed on the timesheet
Shifts entered as shorter than they actually were — 6.5 hours recorded as 6, for example. Small per shift but significant over time.
Penalty rate shifts entered as ordinary
Your Sunday shift recorded as a Monday. A simple data entry error that strips the penalty rate from the calculation.
Setup or pack-down time not recorded
Time spent setting up before service or cleaning up after it is working time that must be paid. If these periods don't appear on your timesheet, they're unpaid.
Shifts simply missing from the payslip
Occasionally an entire shift isn't processed. If your roster shows 5 shifts but you're paid for 4, that's straightforward — one shift's pay is missing.
If your pay and roster don't match, Check what your roster hours should pay →
What this costs you
Even a small recurring discrepancy adds up fast. A 30-minute per shift undercount across 5 shifts per week at Level 2 casual rates: approximately $79.00/week. Over a year: ~$4,108.00 — from what looks like a minor rounding issue on each individual payslip.
What to do
Step 1: Keep your roster records — screenshot, photograph, or save any digital version. This is your evidence.
Step 2: Compare the roster against your payslip line by line. Note any discrepancies.
Step 3: Raise it with your employer — in writing if possible. Provide the specific dates and the discrepancy. Many are genuinely errors that get corrected quickly.
Step 4: If unresolved, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94. See how to report underpayment
Frequently asked questions
My employer says I must have misread the roster — what should I do?
Keep copies of your own records — photographs of physical rosters, screenshots of digital ones. Text messages about shifts are also useful. Your documentation is what matters.
What if the discrepancy is small — is it worth raising?
Even small weekly discrepancies compound. $20/week is over $1,000/year. And raising a systematic error benefits everyone else affected too.
My roster is shared digitally — can the employer change it after the fact?
Yes, which is why keeping contemporary records (screenshots taken at the time) is important. If the roster is changed retroactively to match a lower payslip, that's a more serious issue.
Don't guess — check what your roster hours should have paid.
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General information only. Verify at fairwork.gov.au.