25 Jul What are Ordinary Hours and why do they matter?

It’s important to understand the meaning of Ordinary Hours, particularly in relation to permanent part-time employment as these contracted hours have ramifications for how you roster and pay employees. It’s common in many small businesses for part-time employees to be rostered like casual employees, but there are risks associated with doing this that you should be aware of.

Part-time employees are employed for a predetermined number of Ordinary Hours, which are anything less than full-time hours. Full-time is always 38 Ordinary Hours per week (which can be averaged over a number of weeks, as per the relevant Award or EBA, but the average must add up to 38 hours). Anything less than 38 hours per week is part-time employment.

In employment law, the term Ordinary Hours has an important meaning; it refers to the contracted hours that an employer and employee have agreed on. These are the work hours you as the employer are obliged by law to make available to the employee and the employee is obliged by law to work those hours. The Ordinary hours that an employee works has implications for how you calculate and pay public holidays, sick leave/carer’s leave (personal leave), annual leave, and for when overtime rates apply. Changing the days and times of when these (total) hours are worked is simply a change of roster. It’s relatively easy to do (although it can have implications for when public holidays, personal leave and annual leave apply)!

But changing the total Ordinary Hours that an employee works is another thing altogether: that’s a change of contract and this should be confirmed in writing. For example, some businesses use forms to confirm these changes with employees, in writing. Failing to confirm these changes with the employee can put your business at risk of underpaying employees.

Additional hours (above the Ordinary Hours) are usually overtime hours, although there are other ways you can deal with these hours, with an employee’s agreement (such as time off in lieu of overtime, salaried employment, and through Individual Flexibility Agreements). Some Awards (such as the Children’s Services Award 2010), but not many, allow for the additional hours of a part-time worker to be paid at ordinary rates for up to 8 hours in a day and for up to 38 hours in a week.

It’s a good idea to be clear in your own mind about the Ordinary Hours that your employees are working and what their contracted ordinary hours are. This is particularly important for permanent part-time employees. In most cases, changing the total number of these hours (up or down) is not simply a change of roster, and it can create a risk for your business if you do not obtain the agreement of employees when you make these changes.