Under the Vehicle Award, most employees are entitled to a higher rate of pay when they work overtime. The overtime rates your employees receive are set out in the table below. To find out when overtime rates apply, see the Overtime section.
These overtime rates do not apply to casual employees, vehicle sales employees, and employees working in fuel retail businesses.
| Monday - Saturday - first 3 hours |
150% |
| Monday - Saturday - thereafter |
200% |
| Sunday |
200% (minimum payment for 4 hours) |
| Public holiday |
250% (minimum payment for 4 hours) |
A minimum payment period of less than 4 hours for Sundays and public holidays may apply in certain situations. See clause 28.5 of the Vehicle Award for details.
Note: different overtime rates apply to driveway attendants, roadhouse attendants and console operators- see clause 43.4 of the Vehicle Award for details.
Overtime rates for casual employees
Only certain casual employees are entitled to receive a higher rate of pay for working overtime.
Please Contact us for overtime rates for:
- Casual employees in the repair, services & retail stream
- Casual driveway attendants, roadhouse attendants and console operators
All other casual employees are not entitled to a higher rate of pay for working overtime.
Overtime rates for shiftworkers
If your shiftworkers work overtime, they receive the overtime rate instead of their shiftwork allowance. They do not receive both.
Example
Sam works afternoon shift for a towing business as a tow truck driver. Sam receives an 18% shift loading for his ordinary hours of work on Monday-Friday.
Sam’s boss asks him to work 4 hours of overtime after his usual shift on Wednesday because the business is particularly busy. Sam’s rates of pay are calculated as follows:
Normal rostered hours: ordinary rate + 18% shift loading
First 3 hours of overtime: ordinary rate + 50%
Fourth hour of overtime: ordinary rate + 100%
Can employees take time off instead of being paid for overtime?
Your employees can elect to take paid time off instead of being paid for overtime. This is also called time off in lieu (TOIL). If an employee elects to take TOIL instead of being paid for overtime, you must agree.
The amount of time off must be equal to the pay the employee would have received for working overtime. If an employee works 1 hour of overtime that would have been paid at 150%, the employee can take 1.5 hours of paid time off instead of being paid for working the overtime.
If your employees choose to take paid time off instead of payment at overtime rates and you agree, you must make sure that:
- the agreement is in writing and recorded with the employee’s wage records and kept on file
- you and your employee agree on a time when the time off will be taken
- the employee takes the time off within 4 weeks of working the overtime.
With your agreement, an employee can choose to bank up to 8 hours of TOIL to be taken no later than 8 weeks after the overtime was worked.