The Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award Summary is both an “industry” and an “occupational” award. This means it covers employers and their employees who are in manufacturing or associated industries, but also that it covers employees working in one of the occupations listed in the Award, even if they are working in another industry.

If you require any assistance in understanding your rights or obligations under the Award, please contact us.

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Coverage

The Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations is both an “industry” and an “occupational” award.

This means it covers employers and their employees who are in manufacturing or associated industries, but also that it covers employees working in one of the occupations listed in the Award, even if they are working in another industry.

The Award has a broad reach and doesn’t just cover the manufacture of items, but also covers businesses who carry out activities such as carrying out repairs or installations.

The Award sets out an extensive definition of “Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations” which can be found in clause 4. As a general rule of thumb, determining coverage under this Award primarily requires consideration of the type of work the business does (e.g. manufacturing or repair work, etc.) and the product they work with (e.g. wood, metal, etc…).

So long as both the activity of the employer and the material they work with is listed in the Award, they will be caught by the industry coverage of the Award.

The Award also has a list of occupations that it covers, even if such persons are not working in the manufacturing or an associated industry, these are:

• maintenance employees in the engineering stream of the Award
• technical workers
• draughtspersons
• production planners
• trainee engineers*
• trainee scientists*
• engine drivers

*Qualified engineers and scientists would most likely be covered by the Professional Employees Award 2020.

The Award provides two streams of coverage – vehicle manufacturing employees (Schedule B), and non vehicle manufacturing employees (Schedule A). The classifications in Schedule A are structured in a reversed order, with level C1 being the most senior role and C14 being the most junior role.

As with other awards, this Award also extends coverage to labour hire employees.

Types of Employees

Employees under the Award can be employed in one of the following categories:

• Full-time;
• Part-time; or
• Casual.

Full-Time Employment

An employee not specifically engaged as casual or part-time is classed as a full-time employee.

Part-Time Employment

A part-time employee is engaged to work on a regular pattern of hours which average less than 38 ordinary hours per week.

A minimum engagement period of at least 4 consecutive hours applies to part time employees. This can be reduced to 3 hours with written agreement between the employee and employer.

Before commencing work, there must be written agreement between the employer and employee setting out:

• The hours to be worked by the employee;
• The days on which they will work;
• The start and finish times;
• The classification applying to the work to be performed.

The terms of the agreement can be varied with written consent.

Casual Employment

A casual employee who works ordinary time must be paid the applicable ordinary hourly rate, plus a 25% casual loading. These two figures combine to create a “casual ordinary hourly rate”. This combined rate, and not the ordinary hourly rate, is used for the purpose of calculating penalty rate, overtime rate or shift loading.

With respect to those who belong to the vehicle manufacturing stream only, casual employees working in a technical field can choose to receive either a 17.5% or 25% loading. If they choose the former, they are entitled to annual leave and annual leave loading on a pro-rata basis as well. Before they commence working, the employer must reach an agreement (to be recorded in writing) with the employee as to which loading applies.

A minimum engagement period of at least 4 consecutive hours applies to casual employees. This can be reduced upon the employee’s request, and with written agreement between the employee and employer.

Before commencing work, the employer must advise the casual employee the following in writing:

• The employee is engaged on a casual basis;
• The name of the employer;
• Their classification and rate of pay.

After completing 12 months of continuous service, depending on how many employees the employer has, a casual employee is entitled to be offered a permanent position. This is subject to a limited set of exceptions. Please see our guidance on casual conversion here.

Individual Flexibility Arrangements

An employer and employee can enter into individual flexibility arrangements. The purpose of these arrangements is to allow employers and employees to agree on variations to certain award terms, including work arrangements, overtime rates, penalty rates, allowances, and annual leave loading, to meet the needs of both parties.

To ensure the agreement is made genuinely and without coercion or duress, the employer must provide a written proposal to the employee and take reasonable steps to ensure that the employee understands the proposal.

The agreement must be in writing, signed by both the employer and employee, and kept as a time and wages record. If the employee is under 18, their parent or guardian must also sign the agreement.

The agreement must result in the employee being better off overall at the time the agreement is made. 

An agreement may be terminated by written agreement between the employer and employee, or by giving 13 weeks’ written notice to the other party, which is reduced to 4 weeks if the agreement was entered into before the first full pay period starting on or after 4 December 2013. 

If the agreement does not meet the requirements for individual flexibility arrangements set out in section 144 of the Fair Work Act 2009, either party may terminate it by giving written notice of not more than 28 days.

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Requests for Flexible Working Arrangements

The Award provides additional requirements where an employee is entitled to make a request for flexible working arrangements under section 65 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (ie they have at least 12 months service and have one of the special circumstances listed in the Act eg caring responsibilities, a disability, etc).

The employer may only refuse a request for a change in working arrangements on reasonable business grounds. 

The employer is required to discuss the request with the employee and make a genuine attempt to agree on a reasonable change to their working arrangements that will accommodate the employee’s circumstances. 

The employer must provide a written response to the employee’s request within 21 days, stating whether the request has been granted or refused. If the request is refused, the written response must include the reasons for the refusal. 

If the employer refuses the request and cannot agree on a change in working arrangements, the written response must include details of the business grounds for the refusal and whether there are any alternative changes that the employer can offer the employee. 

If an alternative change is agreed, the employer is required to provide the employee with a written response setting out the agreed changes in working arrangements. 

Disputes about whether the employer has discussed the request with the employee and responded to the request in the way required by clause 6 can be dealt with under the Dispute Resolution clause of the Award.

Hours of Work

Ordinary Hours of Work and Rostering

The Award has different rules for “day workers” (i.e. those workers who work regular daytime shifts), and shiftworkers (i.e. those workers who work at night or other unsociable times).

Day Workers

The ordinary hours for a full-time employee are an average of 38 hours per week but not exceeding 152 hours in 28 days. 

Ordinary hours of work cannot exceed 8 hours per day, unless there is an agreement between the employer and the majority of employees (or individual employees) that the number of ordinary hours exceed 8 hours per day.

An employer can reach an agreement with the majority of its employees to set ordinary hours of work to 12 hours per day. Where such an agreement is in place, the employer must ensure there is proper health monitoring and supervision, adequate breaks, and a review process.

Ordinary hours can be worked on any day Monday to Friday. They can also be worked on Saturday and Sunday, provided the employer has reached an agreement with the majority of employees to this effect (penalty rates will then apply, see further below).

The span of hours between which ordinary hours must be worked are Monday to Friday – 6.00am and 6.00pm – but this can be moved forwards or backwards up to one hour by agreement between the employer and individual employees (or the majority of employees).

Continuous Shift Workers

Continuous shift work is defined as work that is constantly available to be done throughout 24 hours of at least 6 consecutive days. 

Clauses relating to continuous shift work do not apply to various classes of employees who were previously covered by the Vehicle Manufacturing, Repair, Services and Retail Award 2010 on 28 May 2020, as well as those who manufacture, repair or assemble motor vehicles (Excluded Class).

The ordinary hours for continuous shift workers will:

• Not exceed 8 per shift unless otherwise agreed under clause 17.5;
• Be an average of 38 hours per week, but cannot exceed 152 hours (including meal breaks, which are counted as time worked) in 28 consecutive days;
  • Note: On agreement with the majority of employees, averaging can be done over a period of up to 12 months.

These employees cannot be required to work more than 1 shift in a 24 hour period.

Non – Continuous Shift workers

The ordinary hours arrangement of non-continuous shift workers are the same as those of continuous shift workers. The main difference is meal breaks are not counted as time worked for non-continuous shift workers.

Breaks

Meal Breaks 

Employees must not be required to work for more than 5 hours without an unpaid meal break of 20 minutes, but there are circumstances (e.g. impracticality or agreement with the majority of employees) which allow the employer to extend this 5 hour period by another hour.

For continuous shiftworkers (except for those belonging to the Excluded Class), the 20-minute meal break is paid time. 

For vehicle manufacturing employees working in a technical field, different break rules apply.  The meal break must not be less than 30 minutes or more than 1 hour and must be taken between 11.30am and 2.00pm for day workers, as agreed between the employer and the majority of employees.

Tea Breaks

Working Through Meal Breaks

If an employee is required to work through a meal break because there has been a breakdown of plant, or to undertake routine maintenance of plant which can only be done while the plant is idle, they are to be paid at the rate they were on before the break. 

If they are required to work for any other reason, applicable overtime and penalty rates apply.

Ship Trials

For technical employees engaged on ship trials, they can only be required to work continuously for a maximum of 12 hours. If the trial goes on for longer, relief shifts must be arranged before leaving wharf.

For the purpose of calculating working hours, an employee is deemed to start when they receive instruction to board the vessel, and end when the employee gains contact with the shore (e.g. when the gangway is lowered after the mooring). 

During the trial, the employee is entitled to a meal break of 30 minutes to be taken between 12.00 pm and 2.00 pm. If they are required to be onboard before 7.00 am, breakfast must be provided. If they are required to be onboard past 6.00 pm, dinner must be provided.

In terms of pay, the employee is entitled to the following:

• For time worked at wharf – 25% extra; and
• For time worked in harbour or at sea – 50% extra.

Overtime and Penalty Rates

Overtime

Overtime is defined as any work done outside “ordinary hours”. There are different definitions of “ordinary hours” depending on whether the employee is a day worker, continuous shift worker, or non-continuous shift worker.

An employer can only require their employees to work overtime if such overtime is reasonable. An employee can refuse to work overtime hours if they are unreasonable.

For the purpose of calculating overtime, each day’s work stands alone, meaning the daily overtime calculation “resets” each day.

Where a day worker or non-continuous shift worker works overtime, the employer is required to pay:

• 1.5x for each of the first three hours;
• 2x for each hour thereafter.

Where a continuous shift worker works overtime, the employer is required to pay:

• Vehicle manufacturing employees – 1.5x for each of the first three hours, and 2x for each hour thereafter;
• Other employees – 2x for each hour of overtime worked.

For overtime worked on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, the employer is required to pay as follows:

• Saturday
  • Day workers ONLY – 1.5x for each of the first three hours, and 2x for each hour thereafter.
• Sunday
  • All types of workers – 2x for each hour of overtime worked, and a minimum engagement period of 3 hours.
• Public holidays
  • Day workers – 2.5x for each hour of overtime worked, and a minimum engagement period of 3 hours.
  • Continuous shift workers – 2x for each hour of overtime worked, and a minimum engagement period of 3 hours.
  • Non-continuous shift workers – 2.5x for each hour of overtime worked, and a minimum engagement period of 3 hours.

Time off in lieu of payment for overtime

Instead of paying overtime in line with the above rules, an employee can reach an agreement with their employer to bank time off in lieu of overtime. A number of rules apply to this arrangement.

Penalty rates for ordinary hours on weekends and public holidays

For day workers, where an agreement is reached between the employer and the majority of employees (or with an individual employee) to treat hours worked on Saturdays and Sundays as ordinary hours, working those hours will require the employer to pay at the following rates:

• For work done between midnight Friday and midnight Saturday – 1.5x for each hour worked;
• For work done between midnight Saturday and midnight Sunday – 2x for each hour worked.

For day workers, any time worked on public holidays entitles them to be paid 2x for each hour worked with a minimum engagement period of 3 hours. 

For shift workers, there are separate rules for vehicle manufacturing employees and other manufacturing employees.

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Annual Leave

Annual leave is only an entitlement for permanent employees, not casual employees. 

Permanent employees generally receive 4 weeks’ annual leave per year.

Certain shift workers are entitled to an additional week of annual leave. For the purposes of the extra week of annual leave, a shift worker is defined as a 7 day shift worker who is regularly rostered to work Sundays and public holidays.

While on annual leave, employees are entitled to be paid any applicable allowances, penalties and loadings they would have been entitled to had they not been on leave, however, it does not include:

• Overtime;
• Shift loading;
• Weekend penalty rates;
• Special rates; or
• Any other payment which might have been payable to the employee as a reimbursement for expenses incurred.

Annual Leave Loading

Employees are entitled to be paid an annual leave loading whenever they take annual leave of the greater of:

• 17.5% of their base rate of pay; or
• the weekend penalty/shift work rates they would have earned during the period of annual leave.

Annual Leave in Advance

The Award permits employees and employers to agree (in writing) for annual leave to be taken in advance of it accruing, and any annual leave owing to be deducted from an employee’s termination pay.

Close-Down 

Employers can close down their organisation for a specified period in line with the close down rules. Before this period starts, employers must give at least 4 weeks’ written notice of its intention to close down.

Employers can close down for a maximum of 2 separate periods per year. One of those periods must be at least 14 consecutive days, including non-working days.

During a close down period, employers can direct their permanent employees to take paid annual leave during part or all of a temporary close down (i.e., Christmas close down). Where a permanent employee does not have sufficient annual leave to cover the close down period, they cannot be required to take unpaid leave.

Excessive Leave Accruals

An employer has an excessive annual leave accrual where they have more than 8 weeks paid annual leave (or 10 weeks paid annual leave for a shift worker).

In the first instance, the employer or the employee may seek to reach a genuine agreement with the other on how to reduce or eliminate the excessive leave accrual.

Where a genuine agreement cannot be reached between both parties, the employer may direct its employee to take annual leave in line with the rules below.

 Excessive Leave Accruals: Direction by Employer that Leave be Taken

The Award permits employers to direct an employee take annual leave subject to strict rules including:

• The employee cannot be required to take leave where it would mean they would have less than 6 weeks annual leave left;
• The employer must not require the employee to take any period of paid annual leave of less than one week;
• The employer must not require the employee to take a period of paid annual leave beginning less than 8 weeks, or more than 12 months after the direction is given; and
• An employee may still request to take a period of paid annual leave as if the direction had not been given.

Excessive Leave Accruals: Request by Employee for Leave

When an employee has genuinely tried to reach an agreement with an employer, but an agreement has not been reached to reduce the excessive leave accrual, the Award permits an employee to give a written notice to the employer requesting to take one or more periods of paid annual leave. The employer must grant paid annual leave requested. This is subject to strict rules including:

• The employee cannot give notice of leave if it would mean they would have less than 6 weeks annual leave left;
• The employee cannot give notice of leave which lasts shorter than one week;
• The employee cannot give notice of leave beginning less than 8 weeks, or more than 12 months after the notice is given;
• An employee may still request to take a period of paid annual leave as if the direction had not been given; and
• An employee is not entitled to request by a notice more than 4 weeks’ paid annual leave (or 5 weeks ‘paid annual leave for a shift worker) in any period of 12 months.

Cashing Out of Annual Leave

Where an employee is aged 18 years or older, cashing out of annual leave is permitted by the Award subject to the following rules.

The employer and employee must reach a written agreement to cash out annual leave. The agreement must include the following information:

• The amount of leave to be cashed out; and
• The date on which payment is to be made.

The agreement must not result in the employee’s remaining accrued entitlement to paid annual leave being less than 4 weeks.

The maximum amount of accrued paid annual leave that may be cashed out in any period of 12 months is 2 weeks.

Other Leave

The following leave is provided for under the National Employment Standards:

• Personal/carer’s leave – A full time employee is entitled to 10 days of paid personal/carers’ leave per year. Where an employee is terminated by the employer and is reengaged within 6 months, they commence accruing this leave on top of their balance prior to termination. The entitlement is pro rata for part-time employees.

• • Compassionate leave – Two days paid leave per permissible occasion for permanent employees (eg death or life-threatening illness of immediate family or household member). Unpaid for casuals.
  • Parental leave and related entitlements – An employee who has served a period of 12 months is entitled to access the parental leave entitlement. This is a 12-month unpaid entitlement, which can be extended for another 12 months where the employer has no reasonable business grounds to refuse.

• Community service leave – An employee is entitled to be absent from their employment to engage in an eligible community service activity.

• Paid family and domestic violence leave – Employees (including casual employees) are entitled to 10 paid days of domestic violence leave in a 12-month period. This leave does not accrue and is available in full at the start of each 12-month period of the employee’s employment.

Public Holidays

A permanent employee is entitled to be absent on a public holiday without loss of pay..

Where they work on a public holiday, the applicable overtime and/or penalty rates apply.

Employers and employees can agree to substitute a different day for a public holiday or part-day public holiday.

If a full-time employee’s rostered day off falls on a public holiday (other than a public holiday on the weekend), at the choosing of the employer, they are entitled to:

• 7.6 hours of pay;
• 7.6 hours of extra annual leave; or 
• A substitute day off on another weekday. 

If an employee has credited time accumulated, it should not be taken as a day off on a public holiday. 

If a public holiday falls on a day an employee was already given notice of the day off, the employee must be allowed to take the time off on another weekday. This rule does not apply to days off specified in an employee’s regular roster. 

If a public holiday is a part-day public holiday, the entitlements apply on a pro-rata basis.

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Consultation & Dispute Resolution

An employer is required to notify employees who may be affected by major changes, such as production, program, organization, structure, or technology. They must discuss these changes with employees and their representatives, explain their nature and expected effects, and consider any measures to avoid or reduce their adverse effects. 

The requirement to consult (with affected employees and their representatives) also applies if the employer proposes to change an employee’s regular roster or ordinary hours of work. The employer must provide information about the proposed changes and invite the employees to give their views about the impact of the changes on them.

There are procedures which must be followed as part of any dispute resolution process between the employer and employee:

• There must first be an attempt to resolve the dispute at the workplace through discussion;
• If the dispute is not resolved, the parties must try to resolve it through discussion at higher levels of management;
• If the dispute is still unresolved, it may be referred to the Fair Work Commission. The parties may agree on the process to be followed by the Fair Work Commission, including mediation, conciliation, and consent arbitration.

Eligible employee representatives (e.g. shop steward, delegate, etc.) are entitled to take up to five days’ training leave with pay to attend courses that enhance the operation of the dispute resolution procedure. The maximum number of representatives entitled to this leave each year depends on the organisation’s headcount.

The employee must give six weeks’ notice of their intention to attend such courses, which should be arranged to minimise adverse effects on the employer’s operational requirements. 

The taking of such leave counts as service for all purposes of this award.

Notice of Termination

Employers are required to give the requisite amount of notice under the NES if they decide to terminate their employee, i.e.:

Although the Award does not say so specifically the National Employment Standards (which override the Award) also provide that where an employee is at least 45 years old and has at least 2 years continuous service, an extra week should be added to all of the periods set out above.

Where an employee is terminated, they must be allowed to take time off without loss of pay to find another job.

Permanent employees are required to provide the same amount of notice as employers when they are resigning from their employment, but they do not need to provide the extra weeks’ notice if they are 45 years or older.

Where an employee fails to give the required notice, the employer can deduct no more than one week’s wages from the employee. However, a deduction cannot be made in cases where a shorter period of notice has been agreed upon. 

The overarching rule, however, is deductions can only lawfully made if they are not unreasonable in the circumstances.

Redundancy

If an employee is transferred to new duties with a lower rate of pay due to redundancy, the employer must give notice of transfer or pay the difference in rates.

If an employee is given notice of termination due to redundancy, they may leave during the notice period and receive the same redundancy benefits and payments they would have received had they stayed until the end of the notice period. However, they are not entitled to be paid for the part of the notice period remaining after they ceased working.

An employee given notice of termination due to redundancy must be allowed time off without pay for up to one day per week of the notice period to find a new job. They may be required to provide proof of attendance at interviews.

Employers with 15 or more employees must pay the following amount of redundancy pay as set out in section 119 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (see further below for special rules for “furnishing employees” who will be entitled to redundancy pay even if the employer has less than 15 employees):

Furnishing employees (i.e. employees who engage in manufacturing, installing, tuning or servicing of items such as furniture, clock case, lamp shades, etc.) of small business employers are entitled to redundancy pay if their employment is terminated due to the employer no longer requiring their job to be performed or due to insolvency or bankruptcy. The amount of redundancy pay is based on the employee’s period of continuous service and base rate of pay, and it can range from 4 to 8 weeks. See clause 46.4 of the Award.

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Minimum Rates of Pay

Clause 20.1 sets out the minimum rates of pay for adult employees. 

Clause 25 sets out the minimum rates of pay for unapprenticed juniors (i.e. aged 16 to 21). Different rates apply for unapprenticed juniors who work in a foundry. These rates increase based on their age.

Employees may be asked to perform duties which are higher than their normal classification. Where they are required to do so for more than two hours in a day or shift, they must be paid the higher minimum rate for that day or shift. 

Where an employee is required to work on duties carrying a higher minimum rate for two hours or less during a day or shift, they must be paid the higher minimum rate only for the time worked.

Clause 21 sets out the minimum rates of pay for apprentices. 

Rates become higher as the apprentice progresses through the apprenticeship. There are various conditions for progression depending on the type of apprenticeship.

An adult apprentice who was previously employed by the same employer under the same award must not receive a reduction in their minimum rate by entering into a training contract. They must continue to receive the same minimum rate that they were receiving before entering into the training contract, based on the classification they held prior to the apprenticeship.

Clause 23 sets out the minimum rates of pay for cadets. The rates increase based on various progression conditions. These conditions vary depending on whether the employee is a technical cadet or a technology cadet.

Clause 24 sets out the minimum rates of pay for trainees. The rates increased based on various progression conditions. These conditions vary depending on the type of traineeship, how long they have left school and the skill levels attained.

• For trainees undertaking traineeships which fall within Skill Level A, B or C, the progression depends on how long it has been since they left school;
• For technical field trainees, the progression depends on their age;
• For engineering and scientist trainees, the progression depends on their age.

Payment of Wages

Wages must be paid weekly or fortnightly, unless employer and employees agree to 3 weekly, 4 weekly, or monthly payments.

Wages must be paid by cash, cheque or electronic transfer into the employee’s bank account. If paid by cheque, the employer must have a facility available during working hours that allows the cheque to be cashed in.

If an employee is taking a day off that coincides with payday, they must be paid no later than the working day immediately following pay day.

Wages paid by cash or cheque must be paid during working hours. If an employee is kept waiting for their wages on payday, they are to be paid at overtime rates for the time they are kept waiting.

When an employee’s pay is averaged to avoid fluctuating wage payments, credits accrue for each day worked over the daily average. No credit accrues for absences from work unless they are for annual leave, long service leave, public holidays, paid personal/carer’s leave, workers compensation, paid compassionate leave, paid training leave, or jury service.

When an employee’s employment is terminated, the employer must pay wages and other amounts due to the employee by the end of the next business day, and all amounts due under the NES within 7 days.

Annualised Salary/Wage Arrangements

Annualised wage arrangements can only be entered into for employees classified as a Supervisor/Trainer/Coordinator Level I or II. 

It is generally accepted that annual salaries can be entered into with employees otherwise than in reliance on an annualised wage clause in an award, so long as the salary they receive in each weekly/fortnightly/month pay period is sufficient to cover all entitlements that might arise in that pay period.

In terms of the annualised wage arrangement under the Award, an employer and a full-time employee may enter into a written agreement for the employee to be paid an annualised wage in lieu of certain provisions of the award, such as penalty rates, overtime, allowances and minimum rates. 

The agreement must specify the annualised wage that is payable, which provisions of the award will be satisfied by payment of the annualised wage, and the method by which the annualised wage has been calculated. It must also state the outer limit number of ordinary hours and overtime hours that can be worked without additional payment, and any overtime or penalty assumptions used in the calculation of the annualised wage.

However, if an employee works any hours in excess of the outer limit amounts specified in the agreement, those hours must be separately paid for in line with the relevant provisions of the award. 

The employer must provide the employee with a copy of the agreement and keep it as a time and wages record. The agreement may be terminated by either party with 12 months’ written notice, or by written agreement between the employer and employee.

The annualised wage must be no less than the amount the employee would have received under the award for the work performed over the year. The employer must also calculate the amount of remuneration that would have been payable to the employee under the award over a relevant period (usually 12 months) and compare it to the amount of the annualised wage actually paid to the employee. 

If the annualised wage is less than what the employee would have received under the award, the employer must pay the employee the amount of the shortfall within 14 days.

The base rate of pay for employees on annualised wage excludes any incentive-based payments, bonuses, loadings, monetary allowances, overtime, and penalties.

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Allowances

Schedule D of the Award sets out the various allowances which an employee may be entitled to. The rates payable for each allowance frequently change, and employers should check the Award for the current value.

Other Rules Which Are Specific to Vehicle Manufacturing Employees

Payment of Fees for Vehicle Manufacturing Trainees

Where a vehicle manufacturing trainee who attends at least 80% of the approved course at a training institution in a year and passes the annual exams or receives a satisfactory report, the employer must reimburse all fees paid by the employee for that course in that year. 

If the trainee passes or receives a satisfactory report for only some subjects taken in a year, the employer must reimburse a proportion of the fees. However, the employer is not required to reimburse fees for more than one year beyond the period prescribed by the training institution. 

If a trainee is employed by more than one employer in a school year, the last employer is liable only for the fees proportional to the period of employment.

Ordinary Hours of Work – Shift Workers

This section applies to continuous work shifts, where employees work on at least 5 consecutive days without interruption and are allowed up to 6 shifts per week. 

The average weekly hours of continuous shift workers will be 38 hours, including crib time, and should not exceed 152 hours in 28 consecutive days. Where there is an agreement between the employer and the majority of their employees, those hours can be done on a roster that exceeds the 28-day period.

There are rostering rules around continuous shift work:

• A shift will not last longer than 10 hours inclusive of crib time;
• If an employer wants a shift to go longer than 8 ordinary hours, this can only be done with agreement between them and the majority of the employees in the relevant section;
• An employee cannot be required to work more than 1 shift in any given 24 hour period;
• Crib time is 20 minutes, and it counts as time worked;
• Meal breaks do not form part of the ordinary hours.

For non-continuous shift workers, the rules are similar.

Their average weekly hours are 38 and not exceeding 152 hours within 28 consecutive days, but those hours can be done over a period longer than 28 days if there is an agreement between the employer and the majority of the employees. 

An employee will not be required to work more than one shift in each 24 hours and will not work for more than 10 hours on any day, except with agreement between the employer and the majority of employees. 

Meal breaks are at the discretion of the employer, and employees will not work for more than 5 hours without a break.

Junior Tracers in the Technical Field

This is a set of minimum wage rates for junior tracers in vehicle manufacturing in the technical field, based on their age. The rates vary from 54% of the V3 rate for those 16 years and under, to 83% of the V3 rate for those 20 years old. These rates can be found at clause 53.1.

Accident Pay

Where an employee sustains a work-related injury, they or their representative must notify the employer in writing of such an injury as soon as reasonably practicable. 

Accident pay is the difference between the weekly compensation paid under workers’ compensation legislation and the amount that the employee would have received had they been on paid personal leave. 

The employer must pay accident pay while the employee remains in their employment, but this payment cannot be made during the first five days of incapacity, any paid leave, or the first three weeks of employment unless incapacity continues beyond that period. 

The maximum period of accident pay for one injury is 26 weeks, and payments for periods of less than one week will be calculated pro rata. 

If an employee returns to work on reduced hours or to perform modified duties, their accident pay will be reduced accordingly. 

Casual employees are also entitled to accident pay, which will be calculated based on their average weekly ordinary hours over the previous 12 months. If they have been with the employer for less than 12 months, their entitlement to accident pay will be calculated based on average weekly ordinary hours over the period of employment with the employer.

Despite the above, where an employee receives a lump sum in lieu of weekly payments under the applicable workers’ compensation legislation, the employer is no longer required to pay accident pay from the date they receive the lump sum.

All employees must declare all workers’ compensation claims made in the previous five years upon commencement of employment, and false or inaccurate information could result in the employee forfeiting entitlement to accident pay.

The employer is not obligated to take out insurance to cover the payment of benefits under this clause.

Overtime

The rules regarding time off instead of payment for overtime can be found above in the OVERTIME AND PENALTY RATES section of this summary.

The following are rules in addition to the above provisions.

Crib Breaks

For employees working more than 1.5 hours after ordinary hours, a crib break of 20 minutes must be allowed before starting such overtime, paid at the minimum hourly rate. For employees working more than 4 hours of overtime, they will be allowed a 20-minute crib break without deduction of pay.

Where a day worker works overtime on a Saturday, if the first crib break takes place between 10.00 am and 1.00 pm, it needs to be paid at the minimum hourly rate.

Where an employee works 9.5 hours on a Sunday or public holiday, at the end of 8 hours, they are entitled to a 20 minute crib break paid at the minimum rate. Where they are required to work on a Sunday or public holiday for more than 8 hours, they are entitled to a 20 minute paid crib break every 4 hours beyond the 8 hours completed.

Meal Allowance

In relation to overtime to be worked not on a Sunday or public holiday (unless the employee’s rostered ordinary hours fall on those days), meal allowances are payable to employees who are required to work overtime for more than 1.5 hours without prior notice, with a rate of $15.21 per meal. An employer is not required to pay this allowance if they supply the employee with a meal or if the employee lives in the same locality as the workplace and can reasonably return home for meals. 

If an employee is notified that they will be working overtime and has provided a meal or meals but is not required to work overtime or is required to work less overtime than the amount advised, they will still be paid the meal allowance.

Break Between Shifts

Where overtime work is necessary, the employer needs to arrange the work in a way where the employee works a maximum of 14 hours in a 24 hour period, so that they have at least 10 consecutive hours off duty without loss of pay until recommencing work.

Where an employee is directed by their employer to resume or continue work without having had the required break time, the employee must be paid 200% of the minimum hourly rate until released from duty. The employee will then be entitled to be absent for 10 consecutive hours off duty without loss of pay for any ordinary working time occurring during such absence.

Call Backs

Employees recalled to work overtime after leaving the premises will be paid for a minimum of 3 hours’ work (minimum engagement period) at the appropriate rate for each time recalled, except in the case of unforeseen circumstances. 

An employer is not required to pay the minimum engagement period if:

• It is normal for the employee to be recalled for periods not longer than 30 minutes to perform a specific job outside ordinary hours. Where this is the case, the employee is entitled to be paid for 1 hour’s work;
• The overtime flows on continuously from the ordinary hours completed;
• The time worked on such recall is less than 3 hours. 

Classifications

The classification structure and definitions set out in Schedule A and Schedule B apply to employees covered by the award, except where otherwise stated. Schedule A sets out the classification structure and definitions for non-vehicle manufacturing employees, while Schedule B sets out the classification structure and definitions for vehicle manufacturing employees.

For employees covered by the National Metal and Engineering Competency Standards, the procedures for classifying such employees are set out in the National Metal and Engineering Competency Standards Implementation Guide (the Guide). 

Finding the appropriate classification depends on the number of competency points assigned based on the Guide. 

Where competency requirements for a classification level are not expressed in points, the classification level of an employee is to be determined on the basis of the relative proportion of competencies in the National Metal and Engineering Competency Standards held and used by the employee.

Non Vehicle Manufacturing Employees – Schedule A

Depending on the level of responsibility, the employee will be classified as Supervisor/Trainer/Coordinator Level I, Level II, or Technical and will receive a corresponding pay rate of 122%, 115%, or 107% of the minimum rate paid to the highest qualified or highest paid employee they supervise or train, or the minimum rate applicable to their technical classification.

A Supervisor/Trainer/Coordinator-Level I is responsible for supervising the work of other employees and/or providing on-the-job training, while a Supervisor/Trainer/Coordinator-Level II is responsible for supervising and/or training Supervisor/Trainers/Coordinators-Level I. The following qualifications are required:

• Supervisor/Trainer/Coordinator-Level I – AQF III qualification;
• Supervisor/Trainer/Coordinator-Level II – AQF IV or V qualification.

Vehicle Manufacturing Employees – Schedule B

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Disclaimer

The information provided in these knowledge base articles is general in nature and is not intended to substitute for professional advice. If you are unsure about how this information applies to your specific situation we recommend you contact Employment Innovations for advice.

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