The Professional Employees Award 2020 is set to undergo changes proposed by the Fair Work Commission, with ordinary hours of work and paid overtime and penalty rates for eligible employees set to come into effect in September 2023. Employers should begin preparing for these changes to ensure compliance. Additionally, remote employees performing work outside of ordinary hours must provide their employer with time sheets detailing when they began and finished remote work, as well as the work performed. The Commission considered submissions from interested parties and rejected most of them, preferring an approach that protects lower paid and junior employees covered by the Award. The most important keywords for the content include The Professional Employees Award 2020, Fair Work Commission, overtime pay, penalty rates, and remote work.
HWL Ebsworth Lawyers recently reported on the proposed changes to The Professional Employees Award 2020 (Award) by the Fair Work Commission (Commission) in a decision made on January 20, 2023. In the January Decision, the Commission proposed introducing ordinary hours of work and paid overtime and penalty rates for employees covered by the Award. Interested parties were invited to provide feedback on the draft determination.
On September 16, 2023, most of the draft determination from the January Decision will come into effect. These amendments will only affect employees earning less than 25% above the Award minimum rate. The changes include setting ordinary hours of work at 38 hours per week and allowing full-time employees to request overtime as long as it is reasonable. Employers and employees can also agree to the accumulation of TOIL instead of paying overtime.
Employees working before 6:00 am or after 10:00 pm on Monday to Saturday will receive a penalty rate of 125%, and those working on Sundays or public holidays will receive a penalty rate of 150%. Employers will be required to keep records of hours worked by certain employees, such as those working in excess of 38 hours per week, before 6:00 am and after 10:00 pm on Monday to Saturday, and on Sundays or public holidays.
The Commission made two further changes to the Award. First, employers may agree with employees to average the employee’s ordinary hours of work over a period of up to 13 weeks. Second, the Award will not apply to managerial employees as of March 16, 2023.
Overall, the changes to the Award will benefit engineers, scientists, and IT professionals who will be entitled to paid overtime and penalty rates starting in September 2023.
According to a recent update, employees who perform remote work outside of ordinary hours must provide their employer with time sheets specifying when they started and finished remote work and describing the work performed. These time sheets should be provided to the employer within a reasonable period of time after the remote work is completed.
Four interested parties submitted feedback on the draft determination, with some expressing concerns about the administrative burden on employers, the introduction of penalty rates for unsociable hours, and the financial burden on employers to increase salaries by 25% to comply with the proposed changes.
The Commission considered the submissions from the interested parties, but rejected the majority of them, favoring an approach that protects lower paid and junior employees covered by the Award.
To prepare for the changes, employers should start looking now at how their business will respond to these amendments to ensure compliance before September 16, 2023. Employers concerned about the necessary alterations to their business can seek assistance from HWL Ebsworth Lawyers.
The update was written by Erica Hartley, Partner, Danielle Flint, Special Counsel, and Kayne Vague, Associate.
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