Penalty rates
A penalty rate is a higher rate of pay for work done outside usual working hours, such as late at night or on weekends or public holidays.
For the purposes of the model transitional provisions, a penalty rate means:
- Saturday, Sunday, public holiday, evening or other penalty; and
- shift allowance / penalty.
Overtime is not considered to be a penalty rate.
The transitional arrangements include a phasing schedule which allows wages, loadings and penalty rates which are higher or lower than pre-existing conditions to be progressively introduced. Where there was no existing loading or penalty applying under the existing instrument then the new loading or penalty in the modern award is also progressively introduced
Penalty rates in modern awards affected by the model transitional provisions can be phased in over four years, beginning from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2010 and ending on the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2014 (when the penalty rates in the modern award apply in full).
Casual loading
Casual loading is an amount paid on top of the base rate of pay to casual employees.
The purpose of a casual loading is to compensate casual employees for not getting certain entitlements that permanent employees receive, such as paid annual leave and personal (sick) leave. Some awards also specify that you must be paid for at least a certain number of hours for each shift - in other words, you can’t be called in and paid for just one hour.
Where the model transitional provisions apply, the casual loadings specified in the modern award are being phased in from the pre-modern award entitlement.
Part-time loading
In some awards and agreements, employees who work part time receive an extra loading on top of their hourly wage.
This is typically lower than a casual loading as part time employees still receive pro-rata annual leave and personal leave.