Part-time employee rostering guide

Written by Roster Flow. Published 17 October 2026.

Part-time employees are the fixed points of most small business rosters. They have reasonably predictable hours, paid leave on a pro rata basis and, under the awards most small businesses use, a written agreement about when they work. That agreement is what makes part-time rostering different. A casual’s week is built from the availability they give you, but a part-time employee’s week has to fit an arrangement you agreed in writing, and the award limits how you change it.

This guide covers what is particular to part-time employees. The general steps for any roster are in the complete guide to staff rostering, and fitting part-time and casual staff into one week is covered in how to roster part-time and casual employees together.

What makes an employee part-time

The Fair Work Ombudsman describes part-time employees as working less than 38 hours a week, with hours that are usually regular each week. They get the same minimum entitlements as full-time employees on a pro rata basis, including annual leave and sick and carer’s leave, and 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave that is not pro rated.

Each award adds its own definition. The Restaurant, Hospitality and Clubs awards define a part-time employee as someone engaged for at least 8 and fewer than 38 ordinary hours a week, or that average over a roster cycle, with reasonably predictable hours of work (clause 10.2 in each). The General Retail and Fast Food awards define a part-time employee as working fewer than 38 ordinary hours a week with reasonably predictable hours (clause 10.1), without the 8 hour floor. Under all five, you tell the employee when you engage them that they are part-time (clause 8.2), and under the General Retail award a full-time or casual employee can only become part-time with their written consent (clause 8.3).

Two kinds of written agreement

The awards use two different models, and the model decides how much room the roster has. Confirm which award covers each employee with the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Find my award tool before you write the agreement.

Written does not have to mean a formal contract. The General Retail award notes that the agreement could be recorded through an exchange of emails or text messages (note to clause 10.5), and the Fast Food award requires the agreement to say that variations will be in writing, including by text message (clause 10.3(f)). Keep a copy either way: clause 10.7 of the General Retail award requires you to keep the agreement and every variation and give the employee another copy on request, and clause 10.4 of the Fast Food award requires you to keep a copy and give one to the employee.

Rostering inside the agreement

Once the agreement is in place, the award sets limits on each day. The table shows them for five awards, as consolidated to 1 July 2026.

The break between one working day and the next applies to part-time employees too. The Restaurant award requires at least 10 hours between finishing ordinary hours on one day and starting ordinary hours on the next, or 8 hours at a changeover of rosters (clause 15.1(e)), and the Hospitality award sets the same in clause 15.5(e). The General Retail award sets 12 hours, which the employer and employee can agree to make 10 (clause 16.6).

Posting the roster and changing it

In the Restaurant and Hospitality awards, the roster for full-time and part-time employees shows each person’s name and start and finish times, is posted in a conspicuous place that employees can easily reach, and can be changed by mutual agreement or with 7 days’ notice (clauses 15.3 and 15.5). The Clubs award allows the same two ways of changing a roster, subject to its consultation clause (clause 16.2). Where practicable, give at least 2 weeks’ notice of rostered days off (clause 15.4 of the Restaurant award and clause 16.3 of the Clubs award).

The General Retail award treats part-time rosters on their own terms. The employer can change the regular pattern, other than the guaranteed hours, by giving 7 days’ written notice, or 48 hours in an emergency (clause 10.10(a)). The pattern must not be changed from week to week or fortnight to fortnight, or to avoid award entitlements, and if it is, the employee is paid as if it had not changed (clause 10.10(b)). The guaranteed hours, including the days on which they are worked, can only be changed by agreement (note 3 to clause 10.10).

Each of the five awards also has a clause on consultation about changes to rosters or hours of work. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s page on rosters explains that before changing an employee’s regular roster or ordinary hours you provide information about the change, invite their views about its impact and consider those views. Clause 33 of the Restaurant award adds that the views include any impact on family or caring responsibilities.

When extra hours become overtime

Part-time employees are often the first people asked to stay back or pick up a shift. Before you ask, check how the award treats the extra hours.

• Restaurant and Hospitality awards. Overtime rates apply to all time worked beyond 38 hours a week or the average over the roster cycle, beyond the daily maximum, or beyond the employee’s rostered hours (clause 10.13(b)).
• Clubs award. Time beyond 38 hours a week or the average over the roster cycle, or beyond the employee’s rostered hours, is overtime (clause 10.13(b)).
• General Retail award. Time beyond the guaranteed hours, as agreed or varied, is paid at the overtime rate (clause 10.8). A variation for a particular rostered shift must be recorded in writing before the end of that shift (clause 10.6(a)). The award’s own example has 2 extra hours agreed by text message before they are worked, paid at ordinary rates including any penalty rates. A variation cannot take the employee to 38 or more ordinary hours a week.
• Fast Food award. All time beyond the agreed hours, or the hours as varied, is overtime (clause 10.9). A variation for a particular rostered shift must be recorded in writing at or by the end of that shift (clause 10.5), and if no record is kept, hours beyond the regular pattern are paid at overtime rates (clause 10.6).

The National Employment Standards add a second check. For an employee other than a full-time employee, the maximum weekly hours are the lesser of 38 and their agreed ordinary hours of work, and you can only request or require more if the additional hours are reasonable, as the Fair Work Ombudsman’s maximum weekly hours fact sheet explains. An employee can refuse additional hours that are unreasonable. How to prevent accidental overtime covers building a week that stays inside these lines.

When guaranteed hours or availability change

Agreements drift. A part-time employee works more than their guaranteed hours for months, or their circumstances change and the agreed availability no longer fits. The awards deal with both.

• Guaranteed hours change only with written consent. Under the Restaurant, Hospitality and Clubs awards, any change to a part-time employee’s guaranteed hours needs the employee’s written consent (clause 10.5).
• A request for more guaranteed hours. Under the same three awards, a part-time employee who has regularly worked more ordinary hours than their guaranteed hours for at least 12 months can ask in writing for an increase. You can refuse only on reasonable business grounds, and must tell them of the refusal and the grounds in writing (clauses 10.8 to 10.10).
• The General Retail review. An employee whose guaranteed hours are less than the ordinary hours they have regularly worked in the previous 12 months can request an increase in writing, once every 12 months. Before refusing you must discuss it with them, you must respond in writing within 21 days, and you can refuse only on reasonable grounds (clause 10.11).
• A change in availability. Under the Restaurant, Hospitality and Clubs awards, a part-time employee whose personal circumstances change in a genuine and ongoing way can alter their availability by giving 14 days’ written notice. If you cannot reasonably accommodate it, their guaranteed hours cease to apply and new ones must be agreed (clauses 10.11 and 10.12).

A worked example: setting up and varying a retail agreement

A gift shop covered by the General Retail Industry Award hires Grace as a part-time sales assistant. Before she starts, the owner and Grace agree in writing on her regular pattern of work under clause 10.5.

Each day is 6.5 hours from start to finish less a 30 minute meal break, so 6 hours, and 3 days make 18 guaranteed hours. Under the break table in clause 16.2, a shift of more than 5 and less than 7 hours also carries one 10 minute paid rest break, which the owner rosters at 10:30. The meal break starts 3 hours in, which keeps it out of the first and last hour and means Grace never works more than 5 hours without a meal break (clause 16.5). Every day is above the 3 hour minimum in clause 10.9 and below the 9 ordinary hours in clause 15.4, and all of it falls inside the 7:00 am to 9:00 pm weekday span in clause 15.1.

On a busy Wednesday, the owner texts Grace at 14:00 to ask whether she can stay until 17:30, and she replies that she can. The variation was agreed and recorded in writing before the end of the affected shift, so clause 10.6(a) is met and the extra 2 hours are paid at ordinary rates rather than the overtime rate in clause 10.8. Her day is now 8 hours worked, which moves her into the 7 to 10 hour row of the break table: two 10 minute paid rest breaks and one unpaid meal break. The owner gives her the second rest break at 15:45, and from 12:30 to 17:30 she works 5 hours, not more than clause 16.5(c) allows without a meal break. Had nobody recorded the change, the 2 hours beyond her guaranteed hours would have been paid at the overtime rate.

A month later the owner wants two lasting changes: Grace to work 10:00 to 16:30 on Mondays, and to swap her Friday for a Thursday. The Monday times are part of the pattern the employer can change with 7 days’ written notice under clause 10.10(a), and clause 35 of the award requires consultation about roster changes, so the owner talks it through with Grace first. Moving her guaranteed hours from Friday to Thursday is different: the days on which guaranteed hours are worked can only change by agreement (note 3 to clause 10.10), so if Grace cannot work Thursdays, Friday stays.

Keep the agreement where you build the roster

A part-time roster is only as accurate as the agreement behind it. Keep each written agreement and every variation where you build the roster, and check each week’s shifts against them before you publish. When an employee asks for more hours or different availability, answer in writing: the awards above require a written answer to a request for more guaranteed hours, and a written record avoids arguments about the rest. The staff availability template is a starting point for recording days and times, and how to give staff predictable hours without losing flexibility covers the planning side.

Roster Flow keeps each week in one place: availability and leave from staff phones, the roster published to everybody at once, clock ins that become timesheets, and approved hours sent to Xero, MYOB or a CSV file.

A checklist for rostering part-time employees

• Each part-time employee has a written agreement in the form their award requires
• Guaranteed hours are rostered before casual shifts are placed
• No shift falls outside the employee’s availability or agreed pattern
• Each day meets the award’s daily minimum and maximum
• Days off and the break between working days are checked
• Roster changes follow the award’s notice and consultation rules
• Extra hours are checked for overtime, and variations are recorded in writing in time
• Requests for more hours or changed availability get a written answer

Sources

• Fair Work Commission: Restaurant Industry Award 2020 [MA000119]
• Fair Work Commission: Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 [MA000009]
• Fair Work Commission: General Retail Industry Award 2020 [MA000004]
• Fair Work Commission: Fast Food Industry Award 2020 [MA000003]
• Fair Work Commission: Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020 [MA000058]
• Fair Work Ombudsman: part-time employees
• Fair Work Ombudsman: maximum weekly hours
• Fair Work Ombudsman: rosters
• Fair Work Ombudsman: find my award

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