Are your team working their proper hours? Do you know what the proper hours are?
Fairwork says:
Maximum weekly hours form part of the National Employment Standards (NES). The NES apply to all employees covered by the national workplace relations system, regardless of any award, agreement or contract.
Awards, enterprise agreements and other registered agreements set out the:
– maximum ordinary hours that can be worked in a day, week, fortnight or month
– minimum ordinary hours that can be worked in a day
– times of the day that ordinary hours can be worked this is called the spread of hours (for example, between 7am and 7pm).
Ordinary hours can be different for full-time, part-time and casual employees.
An award or agreement may allow for the averaging of hours of work over a period of time that is greater than a week.
Overtime is work performed by an employee outside the ordinary hours that are set out in the award, enterprise agreement, other registered agreement or employment contract that applies to them. It can include work done:
– beyond their maximum daily or weekly ordinary hours of work
– outside a part-time employee’s agreed number of hours
– outside the spread of ordinary hours.
The ‘spread of hours’ may catch you out if you allow your team to work flexible hours (after they’ve had dinner) – they still need to fit inside the spread of hours or you could be up for overtime rates!
More info here: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment-conditions/hours-of-work-breaks-and-rosters/hours-of-work
