Australia: Fair Work Commission confirms variations to Professional Employees Award

In brief

The Fair Work Commission has confirmed its 20 January 2023 decision to amend the Professional Employees Award 2020 ("Award") in order to impose new obligations on employers regarding hours of work, overtime and penalty rates. The Commission's 16 March 2023 decision confirmed that the changes will take effect from 16 September 2023.


Contents

In more detail

The confirmed changes are materially similar to those outlined in our previous alert, with key amendments including:

  1. Employees will be entitled to be paid overtime or receive time off in lieu of overtime for working in excess of 38 hours per week (or an average of 38 hours over an agreed period of up to 13 weeks).
  2. Penalty rates will be payable for any hours worked before 6 am or after 10 pm on any day from Monday to Saturday. A higher penalty rate will apply for Sunday or public holiday work.
  3. Employers will be required to keep records in relation to the above hours of work (with some obligations placed on employees in relation to the performance of remote work outside of ordinary hours).

There will be exemptions for employees paid 25% more than the minimum rate of pay for their classification under the Award.

Recommended actions

  • If your organisation is in the IT industry, or employs scientists or engineers - conduct an audit of award coverage.
  • If you already know your organisation is covered by the Award, conduct an audit of award classification and pay rates in order to determine whether the new requirements will apply to you.
  • Obtain advice about ways of managing the change, including options for refreshing your employment contracts.

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