Car Parking Award

The coverage question is often the biggest risk under this award because many businesses with parking are actually covered elsewhere.

• Check whether the business is providing parking on a commercial basis, or whether parking is just incidental to another main business.
• Do not assume all parking related work belongs here. The award specifically points away from clerical, retail, hospitality, local government and security coverage in the listed situations.
• If more than one award could apply, the employee belongs under the classification most appropriate to the work performed and the environment in which it is normally performed.

Employment type and classification settings do most of the heavy lifting under this award. Both must be documented properly.

• Full-time employees average 38 ordinary hours per week.
• Part-time employees need a written regular pattern covering hours, days and actual start and finish times, and they have a 3 hour minimum per start.
• Hours beyond the agreed part-time pattern are overtime.
• Casuals can end on an hour's notice, receive a 25% loading and have a minimum of 3 hours for each start on a day.
• The base classification structure uses Car Parking Officer Levels 1 to 3, and higher duties rules can change pay where someone works up.

This award lets hours be averaged, but it also places real limits around longer days that are easy to overlook in a 24 hour parking operation.

• Ordinary hours can be averaged over 2, 3 or 4 week periods at the employer's discretion.
• Dayworkers work between 7.00 am and 7.00 pm and ordinarily no more than 7.6 hours per day, or up to 10 hours by individual agreement.
• No employee can be rostered for 10 hours per day on more than 3 consecutive days without a break of at least 48 hours, and no more than 8 days of 10 hours can be worked in a 4 week period.
• Shiftworkers can work up to 10 hours by majority agreement to facilitate extra rostered days off.

A compliant pay cycle and clear allowance treatment are central payroll issues under this award, especially in businesses that run several sites and casual pools.

• Wages including overtime, penalties and allowances must be paid weekly or fortnightly, and payment timing is prescribed.
• If employment ends, award wages and other award and NES amounts must be paid within 7 days.
• The award includes first aid, uniform laundering and meal related allowances, and they need to be handled as allowances rather than hidden inside a loaded hourly rate.

After hours contact should be checked against the award's right to disconnect clause, particularly in businesses that rely on ad hoc fill ins.

• The right to disconnect operates through the Fair Work Act framework and has different commencement timing for some small businesses.
• Policies should be checked where supervisors regularly text or call staff outside rostered hours.
• Any exception to the right to disconnect should be checked against the clause itself rather than handled informally.

Short shift businesses often mix part-time and casual arrangements. Under this award that can create avoidable overtime and conversion issues if the paperwork is weak.

• Part-time arrangements only work cleanly if the written pattern is accurate, because overtime is triggered by work beyond that pattern.
• Casual conversion sits in the NES, but the award still sets the casual loading, minimum start and overtime treatment.
• Managers should not use casual or part-time arrangements interchangeably just because both are under 38 hours.

PR799280, PR799375, PR799530

The current consolidated award incorporates these recent variation determinations. Use the consolidated wording when checking any affected clause, schedule, rate or allowance.

Affected: 17 - Minimum rates, 19 - Allowances, Schedule A - Summary of Hourly Rates of Pay, Schedule B - Summary of Monetary Allowances, Schedule C - Supported Wage System