Weekly Working Hours: Legal Limits For Australian Employers

If you’re building a team in Australia, understanding weekly working hours isn’t just good management - it’s part of your legal obligations as an employer. Questions like “how many hours in a work week?”, “what is the standard work week in Australia?”, and “when is overtime reasonable?” come up often as businesses grow.

Getting this right helps with rostering, payroll, employee wellbeing and, importantly, compliance with workplace laws. In this guide, we’ll break down the legal limits on weekly working hours, how “reasonable additional hours” work, when averaging is allowed, and the role of modern awards and enterprise agreements - all in plain English.

We’ll also share practical steps to stay compliant and protect your business with the right documents and systems.

What Is The Maximum Weekly Hours Under The NES?

The National Employment Standards (NES) set the maximum ordinary hours for employees covered by the Fair Work system.

• Full-time employees: up to 38 hours per week
• Part-time employees: the lesser of 38 hours or their agreed hours
• Casual employees: hours vary per engagement, but the same maximum weekly hours principle underpins what is “reasonable”

Employees can be asked to work more than 38 hours if those are reasonable additional hours (explained below). Employees also have the right to refuse unreasonable additional hours.

For a deeper dive into limits and employer obligations, see this guide to maximum weekly hours.

How Are Part-Time Hours Set?

Part-time hours should be clearly set out in the employment contract or as otherwise agreed, and should be reasonably predictable. Many awards also require written agreements about ordinary hours for part-time staff.

What About Casual Employees?

Casuals are engaged per shift and paid a loading instead of certain entitlements. While they don’t have fixed ordinary hours, the concepts of maximum weekly hours and reasonable additional hours still inform what you can ask of a casual.

Can You Require “Reasonable Additional Hours” Or Overtime?

The Fair Work Act allows employers to require additional hours beyond 38 per week, but only if they are reasonable. Whether extra hours are reasonable depends on factors such as:

• The needs of the business and the employee’s role
• Any risk to health and safety from working extra hours
• The employee’s personal circumstances (e.g. family responsibilities)
• Whether the employee is entitled to overtime payments, penalty rates, or other compensation
• How much notice you gave (and whether the employee gave notice of an inability to work)
• Any patterns of long hours and the overall workload

Many awards and enterprise agreements set out specific overtime triggers, rates and minimum call-out provisions. Make sure you’re paying the correct penalty rates and following the overtime laws that apply to your team.

Can Employees Refuse Additional Hours?

Yes - employees can refuse additional hours if they are unreasonable in the circumstances. If you regularly require long hours, review workloads, staffing levels and roster design to reduce risk and ensure compliance.

Averaging Weekly Hours: How Does It Work?

It’s common for businesses to have peaks and troughs. The law recognises this by allowing ordinary hours to be averaged over a period - but the details depend on coverage:

• Modern award or enterprise agreement employees: Averaging is permitted where the relevant instrument allows it. The averaging period, ordinary hours, and any span-of-hours rules will be set out in that instrument.
• Award/agreement-free employees: You can agree in writing to average ordinary hours over a period of up to 26 weeks, provided the average does not exceed 38 hours per week.

Example: If an award allows fortnightly averaging, you could roster 42 hours in week one and 34 in week two, so long as the average over the fortnight is 38 per week and all overtime/penalties are applied where required.

When you use averaging, document it clearly, align it with any award rules, and keep accurate records so you can demonstrate compliance.

Daily Limits And Time Between Shifts

The NES focuses on weekly limits. Daily limits, minimum breaks and reset periods usually come from awards or agreements. It’s important to consider maximum working hours per day and adequate time between shifts to manage risk and fatigue.

How Do Awards And Enterprise Agreements Affect Working Hours?

Most employees are covered by a modern award or enterprise agreement. These instruments can change how ordinary hours are set and paid, including:

• Ordinary hours per week or per roster cycle
• Span of ordinary hours (the times of day you can roster without overtime)
• Overtime triggers and rates, penalty rates and minimum engagements
• Break entitlements (e.g. meal breaks and paid rest breaks)
• Roster rules and minimum notice of changes

If an award or agreement offers more generous terms than the NES, those terms apply. Make sure your rostering practices align with any relevant rostering and break rules, including meal breaks and rest periods.

Record-Keeping And Payroll

You must keep accurate time and wages records (including overtime and breaks) for at least seven years. Inaccurate records can lead to underpayment claims and penalties. Make sure your payroll system reflects award classifications, base rates, overtime and penalties correctly.

Health And Safety: Managing Fatigue And Long Hours

Beyond the Fair Work Act, every employer has work health and safety (WHS) obligations to manage risks associated with work - including fatigue from long hours. Most jurisdictions in Australia have adopted model WHS laws, while Victoria has its own OHS framework. Regardless of jurisdiction, your duties include providing a safe system of work and consulting with workers on health and safety matters.

What this means in practice:

• Design rosters that allow adequate rest and recovery
• Monitor overtime patterns and adjust staffing where necessary
• Provide reasonable breaks and reset periods between shifts
• Consider personal circumstances (e.g. second jobs, caring responsibilities)
• Address workload and staffing issues causing persistent long hours

Long-hour cultures increase risks of incidents, injuries and non-compliance. Build WHS considerations into rostering and any decision to require additional hours.

Practical Compliance Steps And The Right Documents

Staying compliant starts with good planning and clear documentation. Here’s a simple framework to follow.

1) Map How Hours Will Work In Your Business

• Identify award/enterprise agreement coverage for each role
• Set ordinary hours, span-of-hours and roster rules aligned to coverage
• Decide whether you’ll use averaging (and for whom)
• Build overtime, penalties and break rules into your rostering tool

2) Put Clear Contracts And Policies In Place

• Employment Contract: Set ordinary hours, rostering, overtime approval processes and any averaging arrangement in writing (use the correct template for full-time or part-time roles).
• Workplace Policies/Staff Handbook: Explain rostering practices, breaks, overtime approval, and fatigue management. Policies make expectations clear and support consistent decisions.
• Record-Keeping: Maintain systems for capturing hours, breaks and approvals. Accurate records are essential if there’s a dispute or audit.

3) Manage Rosters And Breaks Proactively

• Run regular checks for excessive hours and repeated overtime
• Provide adequate notice of roster changes and respect minimum engagement periods
• Apply the correct award rates for overtime and penalties every pay cycle
• Ensure break compliance across all shifts - both rest breaks and meal breaks

4) Train Managers And Close The Loop

• Equip supervisors to spot fatigue risks and escalate workload problems
• Encourage employees to raise concerns early if hours feel unsustainable
• Audit your practices annually against relevant awards and legislation

Useful Topics To Bookmark

• overtime laws
• penalty rates
• meal breaks

If you’re setting up your employment framework or dealing with a complex award, it can be helpful to speak with an employment lawyer to tailor contracts and policies to your workplace.

Contractors And Freelancers: Do Weekly Limits Apply?

Contractors generally control their own hours and are engaged for outcomes rather than time. However, if you’re directing hours like an employer would and integrating a worker into rosters, there’s a risk they’re actually an employee in law. Ensure you are engaging the right way and use an appropriate contractor agreement when it’s truly an independent contracting arrangement.

Key Takeaways

• The NES caps ordinary hours at 38 per week for full-time employees (or the lesser of 38 and agreed hours for part-time), with a right to refuse unreasonable additional hours.
• Whether extra hours are reasonable depends on business needs, health and safety risks, personal circumstances, notice and whether compensation like overtime applies.
• Averaging is allowed, but the rules depend on coverage: awards/agreements set their own averaging terms; award/agreement-free employees can average by written agreement over up to 26 weeks.
• Awards and enterprise agreements often set span-of-hours, break rules, overtime triggers and penalty rates - build these into your rostering and payroll systems.
• WHS duties require you to manage fatigue risks. Design rosters with adequate rest, monitor overtime and address workload drivers of long hours.
• Put the essentials in writing: clear Employment Contracts, practical policies, reliable time and wages records, and proactive roster management.

If you’d like a consultation on weekly working hours, rostering or employment compliance, you can reach us at 1800 730 617 or team@sprintlaw.com.au for a free, no-obligations chat.