Higher duties apply when an employee performs work at a higher classification than their usual duties. For example, you might request an employee to perform higher duties to replace another employee who is on annual leave or sick leave.
Under the Security Award, if you request an employee to perform higher duties for more than 4 hours on any day, the employee is entitled to be paid the higher rate for the entire day or shift.
If your security employee works at a higher classification for 4 hours or less during a shift, they are entitled to be paid the higher rate for the time worked at the higher level.
Employees performing higher duties will also get any relevant overtime, weekend or shift penalties on top of the higher hourly rate.
Make sure that any time your employees are paid higher duties, that it is recorded in your time and wages records.
Example
George is employed as a full-time security guard by Secure-X Pty Ltd. George’s duties include watching and guarding of premises and he also occasionally works as a crowd controller at major events. George is classified as a Security Officer Level 1 under the Security Award.
Another employee of Secure-X Pty Ltd, Anthony, takes 5 weeks of annual leave. Anthony is also a security guard and his duties include controlling of stock and material at computerised gatehouses. Anthony is also required to provide safety inductions to the company’s employees and contractors. Anthony is classified as a Security Officer Level 3. George’s boss asks him to perform Anthony’s duties for the 5 weeks.
For the 5 weeks that George works in Anthony’s position, George is entitled to payment as a Security Officer Level 3.
A few months later Anthony falls sick one day and George’s boss asks George to help out by doing some of Anthony’s duties that day. George performs Anthony’s duties for 5 hours and the remainder of his shift (2.5 hours) is spent doing his regular duties. George is entitled to be paid for the whole shift (7.5 hours) at Security Officer Level 3.
Best Practice Tip
Consider implementing a higher duties policy which sets out when higher duties apply and how positions will be filled. The policy could cover the following situations:
- a short term vacancy (for example, due to an unexpected absence)
- a vacancy for a limited period of time (for example, where an employee is on annual leave or extended personal leave)
- a long term vacancy (for example, where an employee is on parental leave or long service leave)
- providing employees an opportunity to gain exposure to a higher role (for example, training your employees to replace a staff member who is leaving your business).