Please be aware that the Fair Work Commission has made changes to casual employee entitlements to overtime rates. These changes start from the first full pay period after 1 January 2018 and apply to the following awards:
Fast Food Award;
Hair and Beauty Award;
Hospitality Award;
Restaurant Award; and
Retail Award.
In summary, casual employees are now entitled to overtime in certain situations. We recommend that you visit the Fairwork website for further details.
Please see the link below for further information:
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/website-news/changes-to-casual-part-time-entitlements-in-some-awards
If you have any queries about the changes please contact the Fair Work Information Hotline.
What are the changes?
Fast Food Award
Casual employees now have an entitlement to overtime pay.
They get overtime when working:
more than 38 hours per week, or an average of 38 hours per week over a roster cycle
more than 11 hours on any day.
Hair and Beauty Award
Casual employees now have an entitlement to overtime pay.
They get overtime when working:
more than 38 hours per week, or an average of 38 hours per week over a roster cycle
more than 10.5 hours per day.
Hospitality Award
Part-time employees
Part-time employees are engaged for a minimum of 8 hours and less/fewer than 38 ordinary hours per week over a roster cycle.
Employers and employees must agree on the minimum number of hours to be worked each week and the times the employee is available to work.
Part-time employees can be rostered for additional hours during their availability period without getting payment for overtime.
A part-time employee who regularly works additional hours for 12 months may ask to increase their guaranteed hours. Employers may only refuse on reasonable business grounds.
Casual employees
Casual employees now have an entitlement to overtime pay.
They get overtime when working:
more than 38 hours per week, or an average of 38 hours per week over a roster cycle (which may not exceed 4 weeks)
more than 12 hours per day.
Restaurant Award
Part-time employees
Part-time employees are engaged for a minimum of 8 hours and less/fewer than 38 ordinary hours per week over a roster cycle.
Employers and employees must agree on the minimum number of hours to be worked each week, and the times the employee is available to work.
Part-time employees can be rostered for additional hours during their availability period without getting payment for overtime.
A part-time employee who regularly works additional hours for 12 months may ask to increase their guaranteed hours. Employers may only refuse on reasonable business grounds.
Casual employees
Casual employees now have an entitlement to overtime pay.
They get overtime when working:
more than 38 hours per week, or an average of 38 hours per week over a roster cycle (which may not exceed 4 weeks)
more than 12 hours per day or shift.
Casuals may also be entitled to a meal allowance when working overtime.
Retail Award
Casual employees now have an entitlement to overtime pay.
They get overtime when working:
more than 38 hours per week, or an average of 38 hours per week over a roster cycle
outside of the span of ordinary hours
more than 11 hours on one day of the week, and more than 9 hours on any other day of the week.
Social and Community Services Award
Part-time rosters no longer need to have the same amount of hours in each week. Employees and employers may agree to have a different amount of hours in each week over a roster cycle.
Roster variations can be for short term or permanent changes to the roster.
Source: Fairwork Website: Published 19 December 2017
