Minimum pay for tree work: awards, minimum wages and prevailing wage by country

The guide on what tree workers earn covers averages and medians. This guide covers the other thing: the lowest hourly rate the law allows. Each section says what the official page says, for whom, and from what date. Which rule applies to a given worker depends on the employer, the job and the place, and the agencies named below answer that question, not this page.

Every figure is an hourly rate before tax unless a line says otherwise. Money amounts carry the code of the country they come from.

United States

Federal minimum wage

The US Department of Labor's Fair Labor Standards Act page says the federal minimum wage is US$7.25 an hour, effective July 24, 2009, for covered nonexempt workers. It adds that where a worker is covered by both state and federal minimum wage laws, the worker is entitled to the higher of the two.

State minimum wages

The Department of Labor keeps a state minimum wage laws page. The page was marked as updated on July 1, 2026. The table below groups the states by the basic rate the page lists. Some states have extra conditions, listed under the table.

Basic rate	Where
US$18.40	District of Columbia
US$17.13	Washington
US$16.94	Connecticut
US$16.90	California
US$16.00 to US$17.00	New York: US$17.00 in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, US$16.00 in the rest of the state
US$16.00	Hawaii, Rhode Island
US$15.92	New Jersey
US$14.55 to US$16.80	Oregon: US$15.55 standard, US$16.80 Portland Metro Area, US$14.55 non-urban counties
US$15.16	Colorado
US$15.15	Arizona
US$15.10	Maine
US$15.00	Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska
US$14.42	Vermont
US$14.00	Alaska, Florida
US$13.73	Michigan
US$12.77	Virginia
US$12.00	Nevada, New Mexico
US$11.85	South Dakota
US$11.41	Minnesota
US$11.00	Arkansas, Ohio
US$10.85	Montana
US$8.75	West Virginia
US$7.25	Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin
US$5.15 listed, federal US$7.25 applies	Georgia, Wyoming
No state law, federal US$7.25 applies	Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee

The conditions the page lists under those states:

Arkansas: the rate applies to employers with 4 or more employees.
Illinois: the rate applies to employers of 4 or more employees, excluding family members.
Indiana: the rate applies to employers of 2 or more employees.
Michigan: the rate applies to employers of 2 or more employees, and the page says it is scheduled to rise to US$15.00 on January 1, 2027.
Montana: US$10.85 applies to businesses with gross annual sales above US$110,000. A business not covered by the federal law with sales of US$110,000 or less may pay US$4.00, but an employee covered by the federal law must be paid the greater of the federal or the Montana rate.
Nebraska: the rate applies to employers of 4 or more employees.
New Jersey: US$15.23 applies to employers with fewer than 6 people and to seasonal employees.
Ohio: US$11.00 applies to employers with annual gross receipts of US$405,000 or more, and US$7.25 to those under that.
Oklahoma: US$7.25 applies to employers with ten or more full time employees at one location or gross sales over US$100,000. The page lists US$2.00 for all other employers and says state law excludes work covered by the federal law.
Vermont: the rate applies to employers of two or more employees.
West Virginia: the rate applies to employers of 6 or more employees at one location.
Georgia and Wyoming: the page says employers subject to the federal law must pay US$7.25. For Georgia it lists the state rate as applying to employers of 6 or more employees.

The page also says some states set lower rates for minors and students or a training wage for new hires, and some local governments set rates higher than their state. It does not show those.

Government contract work

Work done on a federal service contract has its own wage rules. The Department of Labor's page on the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act says the law requires contractors and subcontractors on prime contracts above US$2,500 to pay service employees no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality, or those in a predecessor contractor's collective bargaining agreement. The Department issues wage determinations contract by contract, and they become part of the contract.

The Department's page on service contract wage determinations says standard determinations list nearly 350 occupations defined in the SCA Directory of Occupations.

The determinations are published on SAM.gov. One example that names tree work is determination 1981-1256, for forestry, land management, timber inventory and related services in the New Hampshire counties of Belknap, Carroll, Cheshire, Coos, Grafton, Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, Strafford and Sullivan. Revision 71 shows a last revision date of August 13, 2026 and lists these occupations:

Occupation	Code	Rate an hour
Tree Climber	08340	US$18.84
Faller/Bucker	08070	US$21.29
Choker Setter	08040	US$18.84
General Forestry Laborer	08250	US$17.64
Forestry Equipment Operator	08130	US$22.61
Tree Planter	08370	US$13.73

The same determination states a minimum for covered workers under Executive Order 13658 of US$13.65 an hour, or the listed rate if higher, for hours worked on the contract from May 11, 2026 through December 31, 2026. It says fringe benefits follow the occupational listing. A determination covers one area and one kind of contract, so these figures are one example, not a national rate for tree climbers.

Canada

Each province and territory sets its own general minimum wage, and the federal government sets one for federally regulated employers. The federal announcement on the federal minimum wage says that where a provincial or territorial rate is higher, federally regulated employers must pay the higher of the two. The table gives the general rate each government page states and the date it gives.

Place	General rate	Date given
Federal, regulated employers	CA$18.15	April 1, 2026
Alberta	CA$15.00	No date given
British Columbia	CA$18.25	June 1, 2026
Manitoba	CA$16.40	October 1, 2026
New Brunswick	CA$15.90	April 1, 2026
Newfoundland and Labrador	CA$16.35	April 1, 2026
Northwest Territories	CA$17.20	No date given
Nova Scotia	CA$17.00	October 1, 2026
Nunavut	CA$20.17	September 1, 2026
Ontario	CA$17.95	October 1, 2026
Quebec	CA$16.60	May 1, 2026
Saskatchewan	CA$15.70	October 1, 2026
Yukon	CA$18.51	April 1, 2026

Several pages list other rates beside the general one:

Alberta lists CA$13.00 for students under 18 for the first 28 hours in a week while school is in session, with restrictions, on its minimum wage page.
Ontario shows a separate student rate of CA$16.90 for the same period as the general rate in its employment standards guide.
Quebec lists CA$13.30 an hour for tipped employees, in effect since May 1, 2026, on the workplace standards board page.
Newfoundland and Labrador's release gives a minimum overtime wage of CA$24.53 an hour from April 1, 2026.

Saskatchewan's page says its rate is calculated by an indexation formula, with changes generally announced on or before June 30 and taking effect on October 1. The Yukon page says its rate rises every year on April 1.

United Kingdom

GOV.UK's page on National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates says the rates change on 1 April every year. The April 2026 rates are:

Who	Rate an hour	From
Aged 21 and over (National Living Wage)	£12.71	April 2026
Aged 18 to 20	£10.85	April 2026
Under 18	£8	April 2026
Apprentice	£8	April 2026

The page says apprentices get the apprentice rate if they are under 19, or aged 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship. Its worked example says an apprentice aged 21 who has finished the first year is entitled to £12.71.

The same government site has a page on what counts as an agricultural worker. Its list of agricultural work includes forestry and maintaining woodlands. A second page on agricultural worker pay says agricultural workers in England must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage, with an exception for workers employed before the rules changed on 1 October 2013 whose contract says they keep the Agricultural Minimum Wage. It says agricultural workers in Wales must be paid at least the Agricultural Minimum Wage, or the National Minimum Wage if that is higher, and that the Agricultural Minimum Wage depends on job grade and category. Whether a given tree job counts as agricultural work is for the government pages and the employment advice services to say.

Australia

Pay floors in Australia come mostly from modern awards, which the Fair Work Commission sets and the Fair Work Ombudsman publishes. The three awards below are described for what their own text says. Which award, if any, covers a given job is a question for the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2020

The Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2020, code MA000101, says it covers employers throughout Australia in the gardening and landscaping services industry and their employees in the classifications in Schedule A, to the exclusion of any other modern award. Its industry definition lists:

the design, preparation and installation of pavements, landscape features and associated lawns and gardens in parklands, public domain and recreation areas
maintenance or horticultural establishment work following practical completion of work
the laying out, construction, cultivation or keeping in order of gardens connected with private houses
landscape and environmental rehabilitation and restoration works on private or public lands
the preparation and maintenance of gardens and grounds, including related turf and renovation works in sports fields

The award text does not mention trees or tree work. It does not cover employers or employees covered by listed awards, which include the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 and the Local Government Industry Award 2020. The consolidated award on the Fair Work site includes variations up to and including July 1, 2026. The adult minimum rates in its pay schedule are:

Level	Weekly	Hourly
Introductory	AU$978.10	AU$25.74
Level 1	AU$1,004.90	AU$26.44
Level 2	AU$1,029.10	AU$27.08
Level 3	AU$1,074.70	AU$28.28
Level 4	AU$1,119.10	AU$29.45
Level 5	AU$1,154.30	AU$30.38

Other terms the award states:

Junior rates are a share of the adult rate: 70 percent under 18, 80 percent at 18, 90 percent at 19 and 100 percent at 20.
A casual employee gets a loading of 25 percent of the ordinary hourly rate and a minimum engagement of 3 hours.
Adult apprentices who start on or after January 1, 2014 are paid 80 percent of the Level 4 rate in the first year. Other apprentices are paid a share of the Level 4 rate that depends on the year and on whether they finished year 12, from 50 percent in the first year.

The allowances it lists include:

Allowance	Amount	Per
First aid, for an employee with a qualification appointed by the employer	AU$22.38	week
Tool allowance for tradespersons	AU$15.83	week
Driving a work vehicle that needs a truck or tractor licence, or operating plant	AU$6.71	day
Leading hand in charge of 1 to 2 employees	AU$22.38	week
Leading hand in charge of 3 to 6 employees	AU$44.76	week
Leading hand in charge of 7 to 9 employees	AU$55.96	week
Leading hand in charge of 10 or more employees	AU$78.34	week

Timber Industry Award 2020

The Fair Work text of the Timber Industry Award 2020, code MA000071, covers harvesting timber and the preparation, maintenance and rejuvenation of forest around harvesting operations, plus general forestry and forest management work, where carried out by employers engaged in harvesting operations. It also has a clause on chainsaws: pieceworkers who, with the employer's agreement, supply, operate and maintain their own chainsaws are reimbursed for the supply of that equipment. The award lets the cost be built into the piece rate, added as a flat or percentage rate, or reimbursed at the actual amount.

Local Government Industry Award 2020

The Fair Work text of the Local Government Industry Award 2020, code MA000112, defines the local government industry as all activities undertaken by local government entities, including corporations they control. The Gardening and Landscaping Services Award says it does not cover employers or employees covered by this one.

The Fair Work Ombudsman answers which award covers a particular job, and publishes the pay guide for each award.

New Zealand

Employment New Zealand's page on minimum wage rates says the rates are effective from 1 April 2026 and apply to all employees working in New Zealand aged 16 and over.

Type	Hourly	Weekly, 40 hours
Adult	NZ$23.95	NZ$958.00
Starting-out	NZ$19.16	NZ$766.40
Training	NZ$19.16	NZ$766.40

The page says the starting-out rate does not apply if the employee's role includes supervising or training other workers, and that the training rate usually applies to apprentices, who have the same minimum rights and protections as any other employee. The page says it was last modified on 1 April 2026.

Reading these numbers

A minimum is a floor set by law for a type of worker. It is not a typical wage, and it says nothing about what a climber or groundworker is paid.
The scope of each rule differs: federal and state law in the United States, provincial law in Canada, one national rate in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and awards by industry in Australia.
Rates change on set dates, so the date beside each figure matters more than the figure.
For a particular worker the answer comes from the labour agency of the place where the work is done.

For averages and medians see pay by country and pay by state and province.