View Current

Casual Staff Time and Attendance Policy

This is the current version of this document. To view historic versions, click the link in the document's navigation bar.

Section 1 - Audience

(1) This policy applies to casual professional, academic and teaching staff employed under the University's Enterprise Agreements, except where otherwise stated. It should be read and understood by all casual staff, and staff who are responsible for administering, supervising or approving casual staff timesheets.

Top of Page

Section 2 - Introduction

(2) The University requires compliance with the obligations of the various Enterprise Agreements in place, as amended from time to time. The University is committed to ensuring casual staff are paid in accordance with the terms of the applicable Enterprise Agreements.

Top of Page

Section 3 - Purpose

(3) To support the University's compliance obligations, this policy outlines the University's requirements for casual professional, academic, and teaching staff to record their hours of work and any associated claims for overtime to enable the correct payment of wages in accordance with the relevant Enterprise Agreement

Top of Page

Section 4 - Hours of Work 

Casual Professional Staff

(4) Ordinary hours of Work and span of ordinary Hours of Work for professional staff are set out in the Enterprise Agreement.

Casual ELICOS Teaching Staff

(5) Ordinary hours of Work and span of ordinary Hours of Work for ELICOS teaching staff are set out in the Enterprise Agreement.

Work Outside Ordinary Hours and Rostered Hours

(6) Work outside of the ordinary or rostered Hours of Work, as required and approved by the University, may attract either overtime or penalty rates depending on the applicable provisions of the Enterprise Agreement (See Section 7 Overtime). 

Top of Page

Section 5 - Minimum Periods of Engagement

(7) The minimum period of engagement for casual staff is as follows:

Casual Staff Type Minimum Period of Engagement Exceptions
Casual academic staff 2 hours Nil
Casual teaching staff 2 hours Nil 
Casual professional staff 3 hours Yes (see below)

(8)  Professional staff employed on a casual basis have the following exceptions to their minimum period of engagement:

  1. students (including postgraduate students) who are expected to attend the University on that day in their capacity as students will have a minimum period of engagement of 1 hour;
  2. persons with additional employment within the University who are expected to attend the University on that day will have a minimum period of engagement of 1 hour;
  3. an engagement of less than the minimum of 3 hours may be agreed to by the University when requested by the staff member.
Top of Page

Section 6 - Timesheets

(9) Casual staff are required to submit timesheets in accordance with the Casual Staff Time and Attendance Procedure

(10) Casual staff who do not comply with the Casual Staff Time and Attendance Procedure may experience delays in receiving payment of wages until the requirements are complied with.

(11) Timesheets must:

  1. accurately reflect days and dates of work, and start and finish times;
  2. be submitted each fortnight; and
  3. be approved by the relevant supervisor or timesheet approver.

(12) The University does not permit timesheets to be submitted in bulk or approved in advance of the work being performed, unless previously authorised by Human Resource Services to meet processing requirements for University closedown periods.

Top of Page

Section 7 - Overtime

Eligibility for Overtime

(13) Casual professional (see exception below) and teaching staff may be eligible for overtime

(14) Casual professional staff are not eligible for overtime if a flexible working arrangement applies and the overtime work can be accommodated within that arrangement. This includes agreements between a casual professional staff member and their manager to work their rostered hours of work at a time that may be outside the ordinary Hours of Work or in a period where no hours of work have been rostered.

(15) Casual academic staff are not eligible for overtime.

Requested and Approved Overtime

(16) Casual staff may be requested to work reasonable overtime, as defined by the relevant Enterprise Agreement.

(17) Wherever possible staff will be given at least 48 hour’s notice of any overtime to be worked. Casual staff may advise the University of circumstances which would make the requirement to work overtime unreasonable, following which the staff member will not be required to work the overtime.

(18) Overtime must be approved in writing by the appropriate supervisor or delegate prior to the commencement of the overtime, unless it is impractical to do so.

(19) Casual staff who choose to work additional hours of their own volition are not entitled to overtime payment or time in leiu.

(20) Each day’s overtime will stand alone, and will be calculated to the nearest quarter of an hour.

Rates for Approved Overtime

(21) Overtime worked outside of ordinary or rostered hours of duty, as required and approved by the University will be paid in accordance with the following table for eligible casual professional and teaching staff:

Time of Work Overtime Rate
Monday to Saturday
1.5 times (150%) of the base rate of pay for the first two (2) hours.
2 times (200%) of the base rate of pay for all hours thereafter until the completion of overtime.
Between midnight Saturday and midnight Sunday 2 times (200%) of the base rate of pay for hours worked (also see Clause 22).
Public holidays 2.5 times (250%) of the base rate of pay for hours worked (also see Clause 22).

(22) Work on Sundays or public holidays will have a minimum payment of four (4) hours at the appropriate overtime rate with the exception of essential work for feeding and watering animals etc., which will attract a minimum payment of three (3) hours.

(23) The calculation of the payment of overtime for casual professional staff will not exceed the maximum salary rate applicable to HEW 7 Step 5 in accordance with the relevant Enterprise Agreement.

(24) Where a casual teaching staff member has been instructed to report for work for pre-arranged overtime on a day which they would not have been required to work, and on reporting for work on that day finds that no overtime is then available, the staff member will be paid three (3) hours overtime at the overtime rate for that day.

Minimum Rest Periods or Alternative Payment Terms

(25) Casual professional and teaching staff are required to have at least 10 consecutive hours off work between hours of work performed on successive days. This may be complied with by:

  1. not reporting for work until at least 10 hours has elapsed since the completion of overtime (defer the starting time) without loss of pay for any ordinary working hours during such absence; or
  2. receiving overtime rates for hours of work completed without having had 10 consecutive hours off duty, until released from duty.
Top of Page

Section 8 - Training

(26) Supervisors and timesheet approvers are required to complete Awareness Training associated with this policy, and its associated procedure on a bi-annual basis.  

(27) Casual staff are required to complete Awareness Training on commencement of employment, and at regular periods as reasonably instructed.

Top of Page

Section 9 - Definitions

(28) In the context of this document:

  1. “base rate of pay” means the hourly rate of pay according to the staff members position excluding any casual loading or allowances.