Professional Diving Industry (Recreational) Award

Coverage under this award is narrow. The award title helps, but the real question is whether the business is in recreational diving and whether the employee fits one of the clause 12 classifications.

• Confirm the business is engaged in recreational diving rather than industrial diving.
• Classify the employee as either a dive instructor or a dive master before setting rates.
• Do not assume mixed duties such as deckhand, cook, skipper, shopwork or client interviews take the employee outside the award.

Trip planning only works if the engagement model is correct first. The award treats short engagements, part-time work and casual work differently.

• Employees may be full-time, part-time or casual.
• All employees except casuals must be employed by the week.
• Where employment is for less than 4 weeks, casual rates apply under clause 8.3.
• Before a part-time employee starts, the employer must tell them their ordinary hours and starting and finishing times.

Boat work and irregular trip timing do not remove the ordinary hours framework. You still need to monitor daily hours, the 28 day cap and the break rules.

• Ordinary hours average 38 per week and must not exceed 152 hours over 28 days.
• Ordinary hours may be worked on any day of the week, up to 12 hours on any one day.
• An employee must not work more than 5 hours without an unpaid meal break.
• Employees are also entitled to a 10 minute paid rest break in the morning or afternoon.

The biggest payroll trap in this award is assuming all trip work is paid the same way. The answer changes with the trip type, the work type and the employment type.

• A day trip is a trip where the employee leaves and returns within 24 hours, while a long trip exceeds 24 hours.
• Full-time employees on a day trip get a minimum payment of 6 hours, and on a long trip get 6 hours for each 24 hour period.
• Part-time employees on a day trip get a minimum payment of 3 hours, and on a long trip get 6 hours for each 24 hour period.
• Casual employees have separate minimum payment rules for longer day trips, dive shop work with classroom instruction and field work within 24 hours.
• Higher duties must be checked if the employee performs the duties of the higher paid classification for a day or part of a day.

Overtime here is mostly a long-day and call-back issue. It needs its own recordkeeping and should not be absorbed into the trip minimum payment rules.

• All time worked on any one day in excess of 12 hours is overtime.
• For full-time and part-time employees, the first 2 overtime hours are paid at 150% and later overtime at 200% of the minimum hourly rate.
• For casual employees, the first 2 overtime hours are paid at 150% of the casual hourly rate and later overtime at 200% of the casual hourly rate.
• Employees, including casual employees, who are called back after the usual finishing time must be paid for at least 4 hours at overtime rates.
• Time off instead of overtime pay is only available by written agreement and must be taken or paid out under clause 19.5.

Travel and logistics are part of payroll compliance under this award. The cleanest result comes from deciding before departure what the employer will provide and what must be reimbursed.

• A separate allowance applies where the employer requires the employee to instruct in a language other than English.
• Employees must be reimbursed for meals and accommodation purchased while onboard a vessel travelling offshore for a journey of one or more nights, unless the employer provides them.
• A vehicle allowance applies where the employee consents to use their own vehicle to transport themselves and their personal diving equipment for work purposes.
• The award also has special rules about distant work onshore and reimbursement of travel costs in that setting.

PR799389, PR799544

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 - Recreational Diving Industry, Schedule B - Summary of Monetary Allowances