Alex is Sprintlaw’s co-founder and principal lawyer. Alex previously worked at a top-tier firm as a lawyer specialising in technology and media contracts, and founded a digital agency which he sold in 2015.
When you’re running a small business, “full-time hours” can sound simple - until you’re the one building rosters, approving timesheets, calculating leave, and answering questions like “Is this overtime?” or “How many hours is full-time this month?”
And if you get it wrong, the risks can be more than just an unhappy team member. Issues around hours of work can flow into underpayment claims, award compliance problems, WHS fatigue risks, and disputes about reasonable additional hours.
Below, we’ll break down what people usually mean by full-time work hours per week in Australia, how to estimate how many working hours in a month (Australia), and the practical compliance steps employers should keep in mind.
What Are Full Time Work Hours Per Week In Australia?
In Australia, a common baseline is that full-time employees work around 38 hours per week.
This figure is often linked to the National Employment Standards (NES) in the Fair Work Act, which set a maximum of 38 hours per week for a full-time employee plus “reasonable additional hours”.
In practice, that means:
- 38 hours per week is a typical starting point for full-time work (but the exact ordinary hours can vary depending on the applicable instrument and contract).
- The “shape” of those hours can vary (for example, 7.6 hours per day over 5 days, or compressed working arrangements where permitted).
- Your employee’s award, enterprise agreement, and employment contract can set more detail about ordinary hours, breaks, overtime, and rostering rules.
Why “Full-Time” Isn’t Always Just About 38 Hours
While 38 hours is a key reference point, the actual compliance question for employers is often: what are the employee’s “ordinary hours” under the applicable industrial instrument?
For many small businesses, the right approach is to start by checking whether the employee is covered by a modern award, and then confirm:
- the span of hours when ordinary hours can be worked
- whether hours can be averaged across a roster cycle
- when overtime applies
- minimum shift lengths, penalty rates, and rostering notice rules
If you’re hiring, it’s also important that your paperwork matches how you actually run the business - an Employment Contract should clearly set expectations around ordinary hours, reasonable additional hours, and where you’ll look for overtime rules (for example, the applicable award).
How Many Working Hours In A Month In Australia?
If you’re trying to work out how many working hours in a month (Australia), it helps to be clear about what you’re calculating and why. Employers commonly ask this for:
- salary budgeting and cashflow planning
- monthly payroll estimates
- leave accrual expectations
- capacity planning (how many labour hours you actually have available)
There’s no single fixed “monthly hours” number because months have different numbers of days (and different numbers of working days). But there are some common, practical ways to estimate.
Method 1: Weekly Hours Converted To A Monthly Average
A quick way to estimate monthly full-time hours is to convert from weekly hours using an annual average.
Because there are 52 weeks in a year and 12 months, the average weeks per month is:
52 ÷ 12 = 4.333...
So, if full-time is 38 hours per week:
38 × 4.333... ≈ 164.67 hours per month
This is useful for budgeting, especially for salaried staff where pay is stable month-to-month.
Method 2: Based On Daily Ordinary Hours (For 5-Day Weeks)
Many full-time arrangements are structured as 7.6 hours per day over 5 days (which equals 38 hours).
If you want a month-specific estimate, you can use:
- working days in that month (usually Monday-Friday excluding public holidays, if you’re measuring “available work days”)
- multiplied by 7.6 hours (or whatever daily ordinary hours you apply)
For example, if a month has 22 weekday working days:
22 × 7.6 = 167.2 hours
A Practical Quick Reference Table
Here’s a simple employer-friendly guide for budgeting. (These are approximations and assume 38 hours per week.)
| Calculation Style | Approx. Monthly Hours | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| 38 × (52 ÷ 12) | ~164.7 hours | Budgeting, forecasting |
| 20 working days × 7.6 | 152 hours | Shorter months / fewer weekdays |
| 21 working days × 7.6 | 159.6 hours | Typical month estimate |
| 22 working days × 7.6 | 167.2 hours | Longer months / more weekdays |
| 23 working days × 7.6 | 174.8 hours | Heavier month (few public holidays) |
Don’t Forget Public Holidays And Award Rules
Public holidays don’t change what “full-time” means, but they can change what your employee actually works in that month (and what you pay). Some awards and enterprise agreements also have specific rules about ordinary hours, accruals, and averaging arrangements.
That’s why it’s worth treating “monthly hours” as a planning tool, and keeping your compliance focus on:
- ordinary hours under the award/enterprise agreement/contract
- accurate time recording
- correct overtime and penalty calculations
As a general guide only, the examples below use common assumptions (like a 38-hour week). Always check the applicable award, enterprise agreement and employment contract for the specific rules that apply in your workplace.
Can You Roster More Than 38 Hours Per Week?
Sometimes, yes - but you need to be careful.
The Fair Work framework allows a full-time employee to work 38 hours per week plus reasonable additional hours. The key word is “reasonable”.
Whether additional hours are reasonable depends on context, including things like:
- health and safety risks (including fatigue)
- the employee’s personal circumstances (for example, caring responsibilities)
- the needs of the workplace (peak periods, urgent work)
- whether the employee is paid overtime or compensated appropriately
- the employee’s role and level of responsibility (for example, some salaried roles may have broader “reasonable additional hours” expectations)
- notice given of the requirement to work additional hours
It’s also important to separate two questions:
- Is it lawful to ask for additional hours? (the “reasonable additional hours” analysis)
- Are those additional hours overtime under the applicable award/enterprise agreement? (a pay calculation question)
Even if additional hours are “reasonable”, they may still need to be paid at overtime rates depending on the relevant industrial instrument.
For a deeper look at limits, it can help to cross-check your approach against guidance on maximum weekly hours, like maximum hours of work per week, and ensure you’re not accidentally building a rostering pattern that creates systemic overtime or fatigue risks.
Can Full-Time Hours Be Averaged?
In many workplaces, the question isn’t “Did they work 38 hours exactly every week?” - it’s whether hours can be averaged across a roster cycle (for example, four weeks).
Some awards and enterprise agreements allow averaging, but usually with conditions. For example, you may need to:
- use a set roster cycle
- keep hours within a maximum cap over the cycle
- provide notice of rosters
- pay overtime if employees exceed agreed ordinary hours
If you’re relying on averaging, you’ll want to make sure your payroll settings and time records match the averaging arrangement - this is one of the areas where small errors can add up over time.
What About Breaks, Rosters, And “Hours Worked” In Real Life?
For small businesses, compliance isn’t only about the headline number of hours. The day-to-day risk usually shows up in the details: unpaid breaks, short breaks, split shifts, last-minute roster changes, and inconsistent time records.
Do Meal Breaks Count Towards Working Hours?
Whether a break counts as time worked often depends on whether it’s paid, and what your award or agreement says.
As a general concept:
- Unpaid meal breaks usually don’t count as hours worked (for example, an unpaid 30-minute lunch break).
- Paid rest breaks commonly count as time worked (for example, a paid 10-minute tea break).
Because break entitlements can vary by award and industry, it’s worth having a clear internal approach to compliance, supported by a reference point like Fair Work breaks.
Spans Of Hours, Penalty Rates, And Overtime
Many businesses assume overtime only happens after 38 hours. But under some awards:
- overtime can apply if an employee works outside the “spread of ordinary hours” (even if total weekly hours are under 38)
- penalty rates can apply for weekends, nights, or public holidays
- minimum shift lengths can apply, which matters if you’re calling staff in for short coverage shifts
This is one reason why award interpretation is such a big part of wage compliance. If you’re unsure which award applies, or how to interpret ordinary hours rules, it’s often better to check early rather than “wait and see” - our team can also assist with Award Compliance so your rosters and payroll align with the correct rules.
Why Good Time Records Matter (Even For Salaried Staff)
Even if your full-time employees are paid an annual salary, keeping reasonable time records is still a smart risk-management move.
It helps you:
- monitor whether “reasonable additional hours” are becoming unreasonable in practice
- track fatigue and WHS risks
- confirm whether a salary is genuinely covering entitlements (if you use salary set-off arrangements)
- resolve disputes quickly if an employee later claims they routinely worked unpaid overtime
How Do You Set Full-Time Hours And Contracts Up Properly As An Employer?
Once you understand what people generally mean by full-time work hours per week in Australia, the next step is operational: making sure your contracts, policies, and payroll practices line up.
1. Put Ordinary Hours In Writing
Your employment documentation should clearly explain what “full-time” means in your workplace. For example:
- ordinary hours (e.g. 38 per week, or the ordinary hours set by the applicable award/enterprise agreement and contract)
- days of work (e.g. Monday to Friday, or a rotating roster)
- start and finish times (or how these will be rostered)
- expectations around reasonable additional hours
This is where a well-drafted Employment Contract can reduce misunderstandings early - especially when your busy periods require flexibility.
2. Align Your Rostering Practices With The Award Or Agreement
Rostering is often where risk creeps in. Even a “normal” roster can accidentally trigger overtime or penalties if it doesn’t comply with the relevant instrument.
As a practical checkpoint, ask:
- Are we rostering within the span of ordinary hours?
- Do we have minimum breaks between shifts where required?
- Are we applying weekend/public holiday penalties properly?
- Do we need written roster changes or notice?
If you’re unsure, it’s better to build a compliant rostering template once, rather than continually patch issues pay run to pay run.
3. Use Workplace Policies To Support Consistency
Small businesses often grow quickly, and informal “everyone knows how it works” arrangements can start to break down once you have multiple supervisors or locations.
Clear written policies help set expectations around:
- timesheet approvals
- breaks and missed breaks
- overtime approval processes
- working from home and after-hours contact
- fatigue management and WHS reporting
Having a Workplace Policy framework (tailored to your actual operations) can be a practical way to keep your team aligned and reduce “it depends who’s managing the shift” inconsistencies.
4. Plan For Terminations And Notice Periods
Hours and pay issues often come to a head at the end of employment - for example, disputes about final pay, unpaid overtime, or whether notice is worked.
If you decide to end employment (or an employee resigns and you’d prefer they don’t work out their notice), you may be considering payment in lieu of notice. Handling notice and final pay correctly is a key part of reducing legal risk.
5. Check Your Business Has The Right “Back-End” Setup
Hours of work compliance doesn’t sit in a vacuum. It usually intersects with:
- how you classify employees (full-time vs part-time vs casual)
- what your payroll system is configured to do
- who approves overtime and variations
- how you document performance management and role changes
It’s also worth remembering that different industries have very different rules - hospitality, retail, healthcare, and construction can all have specific award conditions that affect ordinary hours and overtime calculations.
Key Takeaways
- In Australia, full time work hours per week are commonly 38 hours, plus any reasonable additional hours (but “full-time” and ordinary hours can differ depending on the award, enterprise agreement and contract).
- There isn’t one fixed answer to how many working hours in a month (Australia), but a useful budgeting average is about 164.7 hours per month for a 38-hour full-time employee.
- Modern awards and enterprise agreements can change how “ordinary hours” work, when overtime applies, and what rostering rules you must follow.
- Breaks, spans of hours, penalties, and overtime are often where small business employers accidentally fall out of compliance - strong processes and accurate records make a big difference.
- A clear employment contract, consistent workplace policies, and an award compliance check can help you roster confidently and reduce underpayment risk.
If you’d like help setting up compliant full-time arrangements (including contracts, policies, or award checks), you can reach us at 1800 730 617 or team@sprintlaw.com.au for a free, no-obligations chat.
