Funeral Industry Award

Coverage is industry specific. Funeral work is in, cemetery work is out, and mixed businesses need role by role analysis.

• Start with the actual business activity: funeral services, coffin manufacturing, removals of deceased human remains or ancillary funeral services.
• Do not assume the award reaches cemetery work. It does not.
• If the employer has mixed operations, coverage must be matched to the work actually performed and the environment in which it is normally done.

The award expects employment type and part-time patterns to be documented up front, not worked out later from the roster.

• Employees must be engaged as full-time, part-time or casual, and the terms of engagement must be given in writing.
• Part-time employees need a written regular pattern of work covering hours worked each day, days of the week, and actual starting and finishing times.
• A part-time shift must be at least 3 consecutive hours.

Short call-ins and ad hoc extensions can change a pay run quickly under this award, especially for part-time and casual staff.

• Time worked in excess of the agreed part-time hours is overtime.
• Casual employees are paid the minimum hourly rate plus the casual loading for each ordinary hour worked.
• Casual employees must still receive the 4 hour minimum payment each time they attend work, even if the work finishes earlier.

Funeral operations still need a structured hours system. Long days and rostered days off cannot be handled informally without award risk.

• Ordinary hours average 38 per week and can be worked over cycles of up to 28 consecutive days.
• For non-shiftworkers, ordinary hours are worked Monday to Friday between 7.00 am and 7.00 pm unless the spread is altered by agreement.
• Ordinary hours in a day cannot exceed 10, and rostered days off require notice, substitution rules and, if banked, a documented banking arrangement.

Because funeral work can start very early or run through meal times, break and rest rules should be built into operations, not treated as optional.

• An employee engaged for 4 hours or more between midnight and 7.00 am is entitled to 8 consecutive hours off duty after finishing work, without loss of pay for ordinary hours during that break.
• Where practicable, employees are entitled to two paid 10 minute rest periods each day if that does not interfere with the normal running of funerals.
• A meal break of 30 to 60 minutes is to be allowed between 11.00 am and 2.30 pm, and work during the normal meal break is paid at 150% of the minimum hourly rate.

This award has funeral-specific pay items that generic payroll settings commonly miss. Higher duties, specialist allowances and weekend treatment all need separate checks.

• Higher duties must be paid at the higher classification rate, either for the whole day or shift if the higher duties run longer than 2 hours, or for the time worked if 2 hours or less.
• Specialist payroll items include stand-by, exhumation, leading hand, meal, tool, uniform and vaccination related entitlements when the clause triggers are met.
• Weekend funerals, weekend non-removal work and after-hours removals do not all use the same rule. Saturday funeral work has its own minimum payment rule, while removals after 7.00 pm or overnight are dealt with under the removal overtime clause.

PR799280, PR799385, PR799540

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

Affected: 15 - Minimum rates, 17 - Allowances, Schedule A - Summary of Hourly Rates of Pay, Schedule B - Summary of Monetary Allowances, Schedule C - Supported Wage System