Miscellaneous Award

The first question under this award is not pay level. It is whether the award should be used at all after testing other awards and exclusions.

• Use this award only after ruling out a more specific award.
• Do not treat it as a shortcut where an industry award may apply.
• Check the exclusions for managers and professional employees at the start.
• If labour hire or group training is involved, confirm there is still no more appropriate modern award.

Classification needs to reflect the actual level of skill and qualification required by the job, not just the employer's internal title.

• Match the employee to Level 1, 2, 3 or 4 using the award's classification criteria.
• Do not move an employee into Level 3 or 4 unless the qualification and duty requirements are actually met.
• Higher duties rules matter where an employee performs work in a higher classification for most of a day or shift.

Part time arrangements and regular hours need written control. Loose or informal scheduling is a common compliance risk under this award.

• Part time patterns must be agreed in writing at the time of engagement.
• The written pattern should include the hours to be worked and the starting and finishing times on each day.
• Once fixed, the pattern can only be varied by agreement and recorded in writing.
• Starting and finishing times for ordinary hours can otherwise be varied by agreement or by employer notice under the rostering clause.

Hours, meal breaks and overtime under this award are straightforward but they still need active roster control and accurate records.

• Ordinary hours are to be worked on a regular basis with fixed starting and finishing times over a maximum of 6 days per week.
• Full time and part time employees must not ordinarily work on more than 20 days in any 28 day period.
• Employees cannot be required to work more than 5 hours without an unpaid meal break of at least 30 minutes.
• Overtime applies when weekly or agreed part time hours, or the daily cap, are exceeded.

Payroll under this award needs separate treatment for overtime, penalty time and reimbursed expenses rather than a single blended rate.

• The award includes meal allowance, vehicle allowance and reimbursement provisions for directed expenses.
• Allowances and reimbursements should be separately identified in payroll and pay records.
• Penalty rates apply for work outside ordinary hours that is not overtime, so payroll needs separate logic for the two categories.

This award must be read with the NES and superannuation legislation rather than as a complete standalone code for leave and casual conversion.

• Casual conversion is dealt with in the NES and the award points employers back to that pathway.
• Annual leave sits in the NES, with additional award rules for shiftworkers, loading, shutdowns, leave in advance and cashing out.
• Superannuation obligations are dealt with through the NES and superannuation legislation, with supplementary award clauses.

PR799280, PR799384, PR799539

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 D - Supported Wage System, Schedule E - National Training Wage