This policy has been developed to explain the Overtime provisions for Professional Staff at our company.
Policy Statement
To facilitate the operations of our company, from time to time a professional staff member may be required to work overtime. When a professional staff member is directed to work overtime, she or he will either receive payment for working the overtime or may elect to take time off in lieu in accordance with the provisions of this policy.
Policy Purpose
This policy informs professional staff members of their entitlement to, and the applicable conditions for, payment of overtime.
Application of Policy
The provisions of this policy apply to all professional staff member at our company.
Working Arrangements for Professional Staff
A professional staff member, including a shift worker, who works under the provisions of our company‘s Flexible Working Arrangements Policy may, in consultation with her/his nominated supervisor develop equitable working and overtime arrangements, which occur outside the following flexible working arrangement parameters:
- the normal weekly ordinary hours of work shall be 35, however, the maximum number of ordinary hours a staff member may be permitted to work in any week is 45 hours;
- the maximum number of ordinary hours a staff member may be permitted to work on any one day is 9 hours;
- the normal daily span of ordinary hours to be worked will be from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday but this may be extended to 7:30 am to 7:00 pm where it is essential to maintain our company service or activity;
- except in an emergency situation, a staff member will normally be given 48 hours notice if they are required to work during the period 7.30 am to 8:00 am or 6:00 pm to 7:00pm;
- overtime and shift allowances are not normally applicable between 7:30 am and 7:00 pm;
- with the approval of a Member of the Executive, a staff member may work ordinary hours outside the extended span of ordinary hours provided that she/he is not required to do so under this provision;
- a staff member will normally work an average of 140 hours over a four-week cycle;
- part-time staff will work the hours specified in their contract of employment over a four-week cycle (or the contracted period in the case of casual staff); and
- the ordinary hours of work for caretaking/cleaning/gardening/security staff shall be worked between 6:00 am to 10:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
Overtime
Our company may direct a staff member to work a reasonable amount of overtime, unless the staff member has reasonable grounds for not working the overtime. In determining whether additional hours are reasonable or unreasonable, the following must be considered:
- any risk to the staff member’s health and safety from working the additional hours;
- the staff member‘s personal circumstances, including family responsibilities;
- the needs of the work unit in which the staff member works;
- whether the staff member is entitled to receive overtime payments, penalty rates or other compensation for, or she or he receives a level of remuneration that reflects an expectation of, working additional hours;
- the notice (if any) given by our company of any request or requirement to work the additional hours;
- the notice (if any) given by the staff member of his or her intention to refuse to work the additional hours;
- the usual patterns of work in the work unit;
- the nature of the staff member‘s role, and the staff member‘s level of responsibility;
- whether the additional hours are in accordance with the averaging provisions included in this Agreement; and
- any other relevant matter.
All authorised time worked in the following circumstances shall be treated as overtime and will be paid at the ordinary rate per hour in accordance with the following table:
Overtime Type
In excess of any of the limits mentioned before, for the first 3 hours:
- Monday to Saturday – Hourly rate 150%
- Thereafter or Sunday – Hourly rate 200%
- Public Holiday (Saturday, Sunday or outside the span of hours) Hourly rate 250%
In excess of 35 hours per week for part-time, fractional and or casual staff after their hours have been averaged over a four-week cycle (or over the contracted period for a casual staff member) – Or the equivalent time in lieu at the request of the staff member
Company Concessional Holidays – Normal Salary plus 50% for the first three hours followed by a normal salary plus 100%
Public Holiday on a day which would otherwise be a normal working day Overtime for Professional Staff Policy Page 6 of 9 (Monday to Friday within the normal span of hours) – Normal salary plus 150%
Public Holiday outside a normal working day (e.g. Saturday or Sunday or outside the normal span of hours Monday to Friday) – Where no payment has been made in normal salary: 250%
For staff members recalled to duty
- Monday to Saturday – Minimum 3-hour payment of 150%
- Sunday – Minimum 3-hour payment of 200%
- Public Holiday – Minimum 3-hour payment of 250%
Where there is not a minimum of 10 hours rest relief off duty prior to returning to duty until released from duty – 200%
Any period of overtime which is continuous with ordinary duty and which extends beyond midnight shall be deemed to have been performed on the day the overtime commenced.
Where overtime is not continuous with ordinary duty and involves duty before and after midnight, the overtime shall be deemed to have been worked on the day for which the higher rate is payable.
Overtime shall be calculated to the nearest five (5) minutes of the total amount of overtime worked in a work cycle.
The salary of a staff member for the purposes of calculating overtime does not include shift work allowances or the casual loading but does include any higher duties allowance or other allowances in the nature of salary being paid to the staff member.
Meal Breaks and Meal Allowances
A staff member will not be required to work for more than five consecutive hours, without taking an unpaid meal break of at least 30 minutes.
A meal allowance shall be paid where:
- the staff member works at least one and a half hours authorised overtime before or after her/his ordinary hours for the day/shift;
- such overtime is continuous with the staff member’s normal hours for the day/shift except for any intervening meal break.
The meal allowance rate of $27.10 will be reviewed annually by our company, in line with changes in the CPI.
Time-in-lieu
If a staff member is directed to work overtime, the staff member may request to take time off in lieu of overtime payment. Such time off is to be calculated in the same manner as is prescribed before.
A staff member may accumulate up to a maximum of 28 hours time-in-lieu after which payment must be made for any overtime worked. All time-in-lieu is to be cleared within three months of accrual unless otherwise agreed between the staff member and the supervisor. If the time off in lieu of overtime is not cleared within three months, in the absence of any other agreement the staff member shall be paid the monetary value of the accrued time-in-lieu.
Staff Member Recalled to Duty
A staff member who is required to work overtime which is not continuous with her/his ordinary duty shall receive a minimum of three hours overtime payment at the overtime rate detailed before, even though the period of duty may be less than three hours.
If a staff member, who is On-Call (as defined by the On-Call Arrangements Policy), is required to return to the University at any time outside the span of hours set out before, she or he shall receive a minimum of three hours overtime at the overtime rate, inclusive of travel time.
Where more than one overtime attendance is required, the minimum payment provision shall not operate to increase the overtime payment beyond that amount which would have been payable had the staff member remained on duty from the time of commencing one period of overtime to the time of ceasing a subsequent period of overtime.
Rest Relief after Overtime
A staff member required to work overtime in circumstances where there is not a break of at least 10 consecutive hours between the cessation of one period of duty and the commencement of the next ordinary period of duty shall be released from duty, without any loss of pay, for a period of at least 10 consecutive hours.
A staff member required by the University to resume or continue work without having had at least 10 consecutive hours, off duty shall be paid at the overtime rate until released from duty for at least 10 consecutive hours and such release shall be without loss of pay.
Other than emergencies, the University will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that staff are not required to continue working without having had at least 10 consecutive hours off duty.
Approvals
All overtime worked must be authorised by the appropriately delegated officer in writing (e.g. by email) prior to the commencement of overtime. Overtime not authorised prior to the overtime being undertaken will not be paid as overtime. Information regarding the delegated officers is available in the relevant Company Delegations.
Procedures
A supervisor who requires a staff member to work overtime will write to the staff member by email. The email will detail the overtime hours and dates to be worked and will seek confirmation by a return email that the staff member is available and agrees to work the overtime required.
Staff members who are directed to work overtime are required to record their starting and finishing times and the timing of any breaks taken during the period of overtime.
The overtime hours should be recorded by completing a Timesheet via Staff Connect, which will be presented to the staff member’s supervisor for review.