Pharmacy Industry Award

This award is both business-specific and role-specific. You need the right business type and the right classification before you can rely on it.

• Start by testing whether the business is a community pharmacy under clause 4.1.
• Then match the employee to the Schedule A classification that best fits the work performed.
• Do not assume every assistant role sits at the same level. Schedule A separates entry-level assistants, Certificate II roles, dispensary work and higher-level supervision.

Part-time compliance under this award is document-heavy. Those documents are the foundation for overtime, roster changes and leave calculations later on.

• Tell the employee at engagement whether they are full-time, part-time or casual.
• A full-time or casual employee can only become part-time with written consent.
• For each part-time employee, record the agreed hours, days, start and finish times, and meal break timing and duration.
• Keep a copy of the agreement or any variation and give the employee a copy.

Most pharmacy payroll disputes start with roster changes and extra hours. This award gives specific rules for both, so they should not be handled informally.

• An employer can change a part-time roster, but not the agreed number of hours, with 7 days' written notice or 48 hours in an emergency.
• The roster and agreed hours can be changed at any time by mutual agreement.
• Roster changes must not be used from pay period to pay period or to avoid an award entitlement.
• If a part-time employee works beyond the agreed hours on a day, any casual-terms arrangement under clause 10.12 must be in writing.

Long trading hours do not remove the roster protections. The award still controls day length, days worked and time off patterns.

• Ordinary hours may be worked on any day between 7.00 am and midnight.
• No more than 12 ordinary hours can be worked in a day.
• Employees must generally have 2 consecutive days off each week or 3 consecutive days off over 2 consecutive weeks.
• There are extra protections around 6 day weeks, more than 6 consecutive days and repeated Sunday work.

A common mistake is to treat qualifications, experience and managerial responsibility as internal labels only. Under this award they change the classification itself.

• The award separates assistants, students, interns and pharmacists into different pay streams.
• Junior percentages apply only to pharmacy assistant levels 1 and 2.
• Pharmacy student and pharmacy intern progression follows the specific award structure, not a generic assistant level.
• Pharmacist, experienced pharmacist, pharmacist in charge and pharmacist manager are distinct classifications with different responsibility levels.

Pharmacy-specific extras often come from clinical review work, interrupted meal breaks and special clothing, not just from base rates or trading hours.

• Pharmacist classifications directed to perform home medicine reviews or residential medication management reviews attract a specific allowance.
• Meal allowance rules depend on overtime timing, notice and whether the employee can reasonably return home for a meal.
• A pharmacist required to take a meal break on the premises to attend urgent matters has a separate entitlement.
• The right to disconnect does not stop contact for an emergency roster change under clause 10.9, but ordinary after-hours contact still needs restraint.

PR810422, PR799280, PR799293, PR799450

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

Affected: 16 - Minimum rates, 19 - Allowances, Schedule B - Summary of Minimum Hourly Rates of Pay, Schedule C - Summary of Monetary Allowances, Schedule D - Supported Wage System