Your December staffing plan: what the Christmas surge really costs a Sydney venue
NSW gives Sydney venues three public holidays in four days this Christmas, and Sunday 27 December is not one of them. Here is the late-December run costed line by line, an 80-person function priced head by head, and the maths on why adding a casual beats stretching the one you already have.
NSW hands you three public holidays in four days this Christmas, and Sunday 27 December is not one of them. One Level 2 casual working a six-hour shift on each of Friday 25, Saturday 26, Sunday 27 and Monday 28 December costs $1,502.94 in wages. The identical 24 hours the week before costs $812.40.
The short version: in NSW, Christmas Day (Friday 25 December 2026), Boxing Day (Saturday 26 December) and an additional day (Monday 28 December) are all public holidays, so casuals sit on 250% for three days out of four. Your corporate function season compresses into three Friday and Saturday pairs: 4 and 5, 11 and 12, then 18 and 19 December. And you have to ask staff to work a public holiday, not roster them. This is general information, not financial or legal advice.
The December 2026 calendar is tighter than last year's
Christmas Day lands on a Friday, which takes the best function night of the year off the board. Work backwards and the corporate season is really three Friday and Saturday pairs: 4 and 5, 11 and 12, then 18 and 19 December. Christmas Eve is a Thursday, and so is New Year's Eve.
Then the expensive bit. Because Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, NSW declares an additional public holiday on Monday 28 December. Sunday 27 December sits in the middle and stays an ordinary Sunday. So the run reads public holiday, public holiday, Sunday, public holiday, and New Year's Day on Friday 1 January 2027 makes four public holidays inside eight days.
| Date | What it is | Casual Level 2 rate | One 6-hour shift, wages | Your loaded cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 24 November | An ordinary weekday, for comparison | $33.85 | $203.10 | $245.75 |
| Friday 25 December | Christmas Day, public holiday | $67.70 | $406.20 | $491.50 |
| Saturday 26 December | Boxing Day, public holiday | $67.70 | $406.20 | $491.50 |
| Sunday 27 December | An ordinary Sunday | $47.39 | $284.34 | $344.05 |
| Monday 28 December | Additional day, public holiday | $67.70 | $406.20 | $491.50 |
| Friday 1 January 2027 | New Year's Day, public holiday | $67.70 | $406.20 | $491.50 |
Loaded cost is the wage plus 12% super, workers compensation and NSW payroll tax at 5.45%, which is what a venue over the $1.2 million payroll tax threshold actually pays. Under the threshold, add about 15% to the wage instead of 21%. Four days, one head, $1,818.55. Put three heads on across that run and you are past $5,400 in labour before the kitchen has cooked anything.
Three of those four days pay 250%. The Sunday in the middle pays 175%, and it is the one most venues wrongly assume is a public holiday too.
One 80-person function, costed head by head
Take a stand-up canapé function for 80 on Thursday 10 December, 6pm to 10pm, with the crew on from 5pm to 11pm. Event staffing guides put passed canapés at roughly one wait staff member per 30 to 40 guests, and one bartender per 50 to 75 for beer and wine. That is six extra heads on top of your normal Thursday floor team. Casual evening rates kick in at 7pm, adding $2.95 an hour, and everything below assumes the classification levels are graded correctly.
| Extra head | Classification | Wages for the 6-hour shift | Your loaded cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 on the floor | Level 2 food and beverage attendant grade 2, casual | $644.70 | $780.09 |
| 1 on the bar | Level 2 food and beverage attendant grade 2, casual | $214.90 | $260.03 |
| 1 in the kitchen | Level 2 kitchen attendant grade 2, casual | $214.90 | $260.03 |
| 1 running the function | Level 3 food and beverage attendant grade 3, casual | $221.56 | $268.09 |
| Six extra heads, 36 hours | $1,296.06 | $1,568.24 |
That is $19.60 a guest in extra labour alone, before food, before beverage cost, before the crew already rostered on a normal Thursday. Price your December packages off last year's numbers and this is the line that quietly eats the margin. If you track labour cost as a percentage of revenue, December deserves its own budget rather than the annual average.
Adding a head beats stretching the one you've got
Under the Hospitality Award a casual works a maximum of 12 hours a day and 38 hours a week, or an average of 38 over a roster cycle of up to four weeks. Past that it is overtime: 150% for the first two hours Monday to Friday, then 200%. For a Level 2 casual that is $40.62, then $54.16. So the same six-hour function shift costs $297.88 if you hand it to the casual who has already hit 38 hours, against $214.90 for someone fresh. Same shift, 39% more.
| How you get the extra head | That 6-hour function shift | Lead time | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own casual, fresh for the week | $260.03 loaded | Instant, if they exist | Only works if you hired and inducted back in November |
| Your own casual, already past 38 hours | $360.43 loaded | Instant | $100 a head dearer, and it is how you burn your best three people out by 20 December |
| Agency, at an illustrative flat $52 an hour | $312.00 | Days, sometimes hours | No on-costs to add, but December rates are usually loaded and minimum booking lengths apply |
| On-demand network shift at the rate you set | $260.03 loaded | Minutes to hours | The worker is new to your floor, so brief them like a first shift |
The $52 is illustrative, not a quote. Charge-out rates move with the day of the week, and our breakdown of agency pricing shows why a genuinely flat rate is a poor deal midweek and a bargain on a public holiday. The December version of that finding: agencies earn their margin on 25, 26 and 28 December, and lose it on almost every function night in the first three weeks.
You have to ask staff to work Christmas Day, not roster them
Section 114 of the Fair Work Act gives every employee the right to be absent on a public holiday unless the employer makes a reasonable request to work it. In 2023 the Full Federal Court held that putting someone on a roster is not a request, even where the public holiday falls inside their usual roster pattern. It has to be a question they can answer no to, and the High Court declined to disturb that ruling.
So put the December question in writing in September or October, name the actual dates, and keep the replies. One of the reasonableness factors in section 114 is how much notice you gave. Asking in November is weaker than asking in September, and asking on 22 December is barely asking at all.
The clause that moves the public holiday bill
For full-time and part-time staff only, clause 29.4(d) of the Hospitality Award lets you agree in writing to pay 125% for public holiday hours instead of 225%, with an equivalent amount of paid time added to the employee's annual leave or taken as a day off within 28 days (extendable to six months by written agreement). A Level 3 supervisor working eight hours on Boxing Day is $503.44 at the standard rate and $279.68 under that agreement, a difference of $223.76 per head in that week's wage bill.
Be honest about what it is: a deferral, not a saving, and it needs genuine written agreement rather than a line in a group chat. Casuals cannot use it at all, because they do not accrue annual leave. One more trap in the same clause: a full-time or part-time employee who works a public holiday is paid a minimum of four hours even if you only open for three, while a casual's minimum is two. A short Boxing Day trade window is cheaper to run with casuals.
What to do between now and December
- August: count the bookings, not the vibes. Put confirmed functions on a calendar by date with guest numbers. You cannot roster demand you have not counted, and 11 and 18 December fill first.
- September: ask about the public holidays in writing. Name 25, 26 and 28 December, ask rather than tell, and file the answers. Early notice is one of the things that makes a request reasonable.
- October: settle annual leave in one go. Decide the December requests together rather than one at a time, so you learn in October that four people want the same week off, not in November.
- Early November: hire and induct. A casual who starts in the first week of November has eight or nine shifts behind them by 10 December. One who starts on 5 December is learning your POS on the busiest Friday of the year.
- Late November: publish the whole month. Including 25, 26 and 28 December. Late rosters are one of the biggest drivers of December no-shows, because people have already made plans.
- December: name a backup for every shift that matters. A no-show on a booked-out function night costs far more than the wage you saved.
Where Shiftly fits
December is the month where the gap between the roster you published and the crew who actually turn up costs the most. Shiftly is free workforce management for Australian venues: rostering, plus award-aware timesheets that help you check what a public holiday shift should cost before you approve it rather than after. It is a calculation tool, not a payroll provider, so always confirm rates against the current Fair Work pay guide.
The part that matters in December is what sits behind it. Shiftly is the roster that fills itself, with an on-demand network of local hospitality workers built into the same roster. When the 11 December function grows by 20 people, or your best bartender pulls out of Boxing Day, you can push the open shift to nearby workers who see the venue, the hours and the pay before they accept. They come onto your books at your loaded cost, not at somebody else's charge-out rate with a December margin on top. Get started with Shiftly.
Frequently asked questions
Is Monday 28 December 2026 a public holiday in NSW?
Yes. Boxing Day falls on Saturday 26 December 2026, and NSW declares an additional public holiday on the following Monday whenever New Year's Day, Christmas Day or Boxing Day lands on a weekend. So Friday 25, Saturday 26 and Monday 28 December are all public holidays in NSW. Sunday 27 December is not, and is paid at ordinary Sunday rates.
How many extra staff do I need for a Christmas function?
For a stand-up canapé function, event staffing guides suggest roughly one wait staff member per 30 to 40 guests, and one bartender per 50 to 75 for beer and wine, tightening to one per 30 to 40 if you are pouring cocktails. For 80 guests that is about four floor and bar staff, plus kitchen support and someone senior running the room. Those are extra heads on top of your normal trading crew, not instead of it.
What does a casual cost on Christmas Day 2026 in NSW?
Under the Hospitality Award a casual works a public holiday at 250% of the ordinary hourly rate for their level. From 1 July 2026 that is $66.10 an hour for a Level 1 food and beverage attendant and $67.70 for Level 2. Add roughly 15% to 21% for super, workers compensation and payroll tax, and one six-hour Level 2 shift costs a Sydney venue between about $467 and $492. Casuals must be paid a minimum of two hours on a public holiday.
When should I hire Christmas casual staff in Sydney?
Aim to have new casuals inducted and on the floor by the first week of November. The function season clusters into three Friday and Saturday pairs between 4 and 19 December, and anyone hired in December is still learning your systems when the volume arrives. Hiring early also lets you spread hours across more people, which keeps casuals under the 38-hour threshold where overtime starts.
Co-founder of Shiftly. Milan works with hospitality businesses across Australia to make rostering, timesheets and award-based pay radically simpler.