Employment agreement guide

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Hours of Work

6.1 Working Hours
All employment agreements are required to describe the working hours. Correctly identifying the nature of the work is essential as a number of minimum employment conditions apply only in some working arrangements.

Also, acceptable ways of dealing with issues such as overtime and changes of shifts have been developed by the employment institutions, and the original agreement on working hours is often instrumental in determining whether both parties have complied with their obligations.

Full Time Hours of Work

The Employee's hours of work shall be [insert number] hours per week on [insert days], between the hours of [insert start and finish times].

Full Time Hours with an obligation to perform overtime as necessary but without extra payment

The Employee's normal hours of work shall be [insert number] hours per week, between the hours of [insert start and finish times] on [insert days]. The Employee may also be required to perform such overtime as may be reasonably required by the Employer in order for the Employee to properly perform their duties. The Employee's salary fully compensates them for all hours worked.

Full Time Hours with an obligation to perform overtime as necessary with an entitlement to extra pay

The Employee's normal hours of work shall be [insert number] hours per week, between the hours of [insert start and finish times] on [insert days]. The Employee may also be required to perform such overtime as may be reasonably required by the Employer in order for the Employee to properly perform their duties. Where extra hours are performed the Employee shall be entitled to an overtime payment as set out in the wages clause below.

Part Time Hours

The parties agree that the Employee is being employed to perform duties on a part time basis. The hours and days on which the Employee shall work are as follows: [insert details of hours and days].

Part Time Hours with the obligation to perform overtime as necessary with an entitlement to extra pay

The Employee's normal hours of work shall be [insert number] hours per week, between the hours of [insert start and finish times] on [insert days]. The Employee may also be required to perform such overtime as may be reasonably required by the Employer in order for the Employee to properly perform their duties. Where extra hours are performed the Employee shall be entitled to overtime pay as set out in the wages clause below.

Shift Work

The parties agree that the Employee is being employed to perform duties in accordance with the shift work arrangement of the Employer. The shift arrangement applies to the Employee in the following manner: [insert description].

Rostered Hours with no minimum hours of work to be provided

The parties agree that the Employee's hours of work shall be set by the Employer in advance in accordance with a roster. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, the Employee shall be given at least 7 days notice of a new roster. In setting the roster the Employer shall provide the Employee with [insert number] consecutive days off within a reasonable period.

Rostered Hours with a minimum number of hours of work to be provided

The parties agree that the Employee's hours of work shall be set by the Employer in advance in accordance with a roster. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, the Employee shall be given at least 7 days notice of a new roster. The parties agree that the Employee shall be provided with a minimum of [insert number] hours work per [insert week, fortnight or appropriate cycle:day:week:fortnight:month]. In setting the roster the Employer shall provide the Employee with [insert number] consecutive days off within a reasonable period.

Casual Employment with no minimum number of hours of work

The parties agree that because the Employee is being employed on an as required basis, the Employee has no fixed hours of work, nor any minimum number of hours of work. The hours of work and days to be worked will be as agreed between the Employer and Employee from time to time. The Employee shall take all reasonable steps to be available when required.

Casual Employment with a minimum number of hours of work guaranteed but no minimum hours for any one period of work

The parties agree that because the Employee is being employed on an as required basis, the Employee has no fixed hours of work. However, the Employer agrees to offer to the Employee at least [insert number] hours per week. The Employee shall take all reasonable steps to be available when required.

Casual Employment with a minimum number of hours of work guaranteed and a minimum period for any one session of work

The parties agree that because the Employee is being employed on an as required basis, the Employee has no fixed hours of work. However, the Employer agrees to offer to the Employee at least [insert number] hours per [insert week, fortnight or appropriate cycle:day:week:fortnight:month]. The Employer also agrees that where the Employee is offered work, the period of any one session of work shall not be less than [insert number] hours. The Employee shall take all reasonable steps to be available when required.

Flexible or Glide Time

The parties agree that the Employee is required to perform [insert number] of hours of work per [week/day:week:day], and to be at the place of work between the core hours of [insert hours] on [insert days of the week]. Provided these hours of work are performed, the Employee may adopt flexibility in their start and finish times each day. The parties agree, however, that the Employer may, after consultation with the Employee, modify this arrangement if this is in the best interests of the Employer's operations.

Piece Work without set hours

The parties agree that the Employee will be available on an as required basis to meet the deadlines for delivery of items, with no fixed hours of work.

Piece Work with set hours and delivery times

The parties agree that the employee will be available on site between the hours of [insert start and finish times] on [insert days], and will deliver their [insert description of units of work] to [insert location or person] no later than [insert time].
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6.2 Lunch and Other Meal Breaks
From 1 April 2009, the Employment Relations (Breaks, Infant Feeding, and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2008 specifies that an employee is entitled to:
  • One paid 10-minute rest break if their work period is two hours or more, but not more than four hours.
  • One 10-minute paid rest break and one 30-minute meal break if their work period is more than four hours, but not more than six hours.
  • Two 10-minute paid rest breaks and one 30-minute meal break if their work period is more than six hours, but not more than eight hours.
(These requirements will begin over again if an employee's work period is more than 8 hours.)

Lunch Breaks

The Employee shall be entitled to a lunch break on each working day of employment, of [insert duration], to be taken at [insert time] or such other time as the parties agree from time to time.

Meal Breaks

The parties agree that after [insert number] hours of work, the Employee shall be entitled to a meal break of not less than [insert duration].
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6.3 Tea Breaks
From 1 April 2009, the Employment Relations (Breaks, Infant Feeding, and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2008 specifies that an employee is entitled to:
  • One paid 10-minute rest break if their work period is two hours or more, but not more than four hours.
  • One 10-minute paid rest break and one 30-minute meal break if their work period is more than four hours, but not more than six hours.
  • Two 10-minute paid rest breaks and one 30-minute meal break if their work period is more than six hours, but not more than eight hours.
(These requirements will begin over again if an employee's work period is more than 8 hours.)

Tea Breaks

The parties agree that the Employee shall be entitled to a tea break of [insert duration] at [insert time] or after [insert period of work].
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6.4 Variation of Working Hours
Once an employment agreement has been signed, an employee is entitled to expect working hours to be constant. Personal grievances can arise where changes to working hours adversely affect the employees income or ability to do the job. Establishing a mechanism to discuss any proposed changes can reduce problems.

Variation to Hours of Work

The Employee's hours of work may be varied as follows:
(i)     By mutual agreement between the Employee and the Employer; or
(ii)    If agreement cannot be reached, by the Employer, following consultation with the Employee, provided that the Employee's minimum hours of work are not reduced below [insert number] hours and that any increase in hours of work is reasonable.

When seeking to vary the Employee's hours, the Employer shall act reasonably, and shall take into account the Employee's personal circumstances and commitments.
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