In this short series we will be breaking down some of the essential and basic HR concepts which from the Workplace Relations foundation for businesses across Australia.  Today were are going to be unpacking the topic of Maximum Weekly Hours.  In other words, we are going to provide you with some considerations when making decisions on how many hours your employee can work before you have to pay overtime.

The Fair Work Act outlines that employees must not be required to work in excess of 38 hours per week (unless the additional hours are “reasonable”). 

Some of the factors determining whether or not overtime is reasonable include:

• Any risks to health and safety. For example requiring 10 hours a week might be reasonable for one employee who lives nearby, but requiring 10 hours of an employee located 2.5 hours from work may not be reasonable, or requiring 10 hours overtime in one day rather than across the work week may also not be reasonable).
• Consideration of the employee’s personal circumstances e.g. family responsibilities. It may not be reasonable to expect a single parent to work overtime for example. 
• The needs of the workplace or enterprise. For example, during Covid it may have been reasonable for nurses to be expected to perform additional overtime due to the strain on the medical system and the vitality of the work being performed. 
• The level of remuneration – for example, it wouldn’t be reasonable to expect overtime if the employee has a salary close to the minimum’s required by the Award, if they are not being paid additional for the overtime. 
• Notice given by the employer of the requirement to work overtime. For example, in the scenario of the single parent, it may have been reasonable to expect a few hours of overtime given they were provided with a few weeks notice.
• Notice given by the employee to refuse to work overtime. E.g. perhaps the employee let the employer know they had an event to attend a few days before the overtime was being required, it may be unreasonable to ask for overtime in these circumstances.
• The usual patterns of work in the industry. For example, trades almost always work overtime versus call centre type roles which rarely perform overtime. 
• The nature of the employees role and level of responsibility. For example it is more reasonable to ask a senior manager to work overtime compared to a more junior employee.

Some Awards have averaging provisions in relation to the maximum ordinary hours. Otherwise you may look to enter a voluntary averaging agreement with your employees also.

So as you can see, there are a multitude of factors to be taken into account when making an assessment as to the “reasonableness” of requests for additional working hours and unfortunately there is no black and white answer.