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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 PageSection 2 - Introduction
(2) The University requires compliance with the obligations within the various Enterprise Agreements in place, and as amended from time to time. In this regard, the University is committed to ensuring casual staff are paid in accordance with the terms set out in the relevant Enterprise Agreements.
Top of PageSection 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 PageSection 4 - Hours of Work
Casual Professional Staff
(4) Hours of Work and span of Hours of Work for casual professional staff are set out in the Enterprise Agreement and are dependent on the appropriate category of staff being applied.
Casual Teaching Staff
(5) Hours of Work for Open Foundation, ELICOS, and Community Music teaching staff is 35 hours per week. The span of hours for Open Foundation and ELICOS teaching staff is 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 PageSection 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:
- students (including postgraduate students) who are expected to attend the University as a student on the same day they are required to perform casual professional work for the University, will have a minimum period of engagement of 1 hour;
- staff who have a primary occupation elsewhere (or with the University) will have a minimum period of engagement of 1 hour;
- 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 PageSection 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:
- accurately reflect days and dates of work, and start and finish times;
- be submitted each fortnight; and
- be approved by the relevant supervisor or timesheet approver.
(12) The University does not permit timesheets to be submitted in bulk.
Top of PageSection 7 - Overtime
Eligibility for Overtime
(13) The following casual staff may be eligible for overtime:
- professional staff (see exception below); and
- Open Foundation, ELICOS and Community Music teaching staff.
(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 prior to the commencement of the overtime.
(19) Casual staff who choose to work additional hours of their own volition are not entitled to overtime payment. This includes choosing to, or agreeing (where permissible under the relevant Enterprise Agreement), to work rostered hours that are outside the ordinary Hours of Work.
(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 animals, watering 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 professional or 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:
- 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
- receiving overtime rates for hours of work completed without having had 10 consecutive hours off duty, until released from duty.
Top of PageSection 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 PageSection 9 - Definitions
(28) In the context of this document:
- “base rate of pay” means the hourly rate of pay according to the staff members position excluding any casual loading or allowances;
- “overtime” for eligible casual staff is work required to be performed:
- outside the ordinary or rostered Hours of Work as required by the University; or
- in excess of the maximum number of hours for an equivalent permanent position (e.g. typically 7 hours per day or 35 hours per week); or
- on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays.