When does overtime start in Australia?
Overtime does not start at one national number. It starts where the ordinary hours in an employee’s award, agreement or contract end, and that point is different for full-time, part-time and casual employees. This article sets out the triggers in five awards common in hospitality, retail and clubs, with a worked week that shows three of them.
Ask when overtime starts and the usual answer is after 38 hours a week. Under most awards that is only one of several triggers. Under the Restaurant Industry Award, a full-time cook who stays half an hour past their rostered finish is on overtime for that half hour, and so is a part-time server who works past their rostered hours on a 4 hour day. A casual under the same award can work 40 hours in one week without overtime, as long as no day passes 12 hours and their roster cycle averages 38.
Overtime starts where ordinary hours end, and the award, enterprise agreement or contract that applies decides where that is: a daily limit, a weekly total, the rostered start or finish, the span of ordinary hours or a part-time employee’s agreed hours. Under the Restaurant Industry Award, for example, a part-time employee is paid overtime rates for time beyond 38 hours a week, the daily maximum or their rostered hours (clause 10.13).
Ordinary hours come first
The Fair Work Ombudsman’s page on when overtime applies describes overtime as work outside the ordinary hours set out in the award, enterprise agreement, other registered agreement or employment contract that applies. It can include work done:
- Beyond the maximum daily or weekly ordinary hours of work
- Outside a part-time employee’s agreed number of hours
- Outside the spread of ordinary hours, meaning the times of day ordinary hours can be worked
So the question is always the same: where do ordinary hours end for this employee under this award? The glossary explains ordinary hours and the span of hours if the terms are new. An enterprise agreement, if your business has one, may draw the lines somewhere else.
Where the 38 hours fits
The 38 hours comes from the National Employment Standards, and it is a limit on weekly hours rather than an overtime rate. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s maximum weekly hours fact sheet explains that an employer must not request or require a full-time employee to work more than 38 hours in a week, unless their award or agreement specifies different hours, or an employee other than a full-time employee to work more than the lesser of 38 hours and their agreed ordinary hours, unless the additional hours are reasonable. Whether they are reasonable depends on factors including the risk to health and safety, the employee’s personal circumstances, the needs of the business, the notice given and the usual patterns of work in the industry.
What an extra hour is paid is a separate question. The same fact sheet notes that under the Fair Work Act, employees who are not covered by an award or agreement are not entitled to a higher rate of pay for working overtime, and the Ombudsman lists the employment contract as one of the places overtime rules can be set out.
Full-time employees
For full-time employees, awards count overtime from the arrangement of ordinary hours: the daily limit, the weekly average, the roster and, in some awards, the days worked. The table sets out the triggers in five awards, as consolidated to 1 July 2026. Confirm which award covers your staff with the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Find my award tool.
| Award | Overtime is payable for | Clauses |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant Industry Award 2020 | Work outside the spread of hours or rostered hours set out in clause 15, where ordinary hours are 6 to 11.5 on any day, and time the employee is required to work on a rostered day off | 23.1(a), 23.1(d), 15.1 |
| Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 | Time worked beyond ordinary hours, where ordinary hours are 6 to 11.5 on any day; each day beyond 20 in 4 weeks under the 152 hour arrangement; and time worked on a rostered or accrued day off | 28.2(a), 28.2(d), 15.1(c), 15.1(d) |
| General Retail Industry Award 2020 | Hours beyond ordinary hours, outside the span of ordinary hours or outside the roster conditions in clause 15, where ordinary hours are up to 9 a day, or 11 on one day a week | 21.2, 15.4, 15.5 |
| Fast Food Industry Award 2020 | Hours beyond 38 a week or the 4 week average, beyond 5 days in a week (or 6 if the next week has ordinary hours on no more than 4), beyond 11 ordinary hours a day, before the rostered start, after the rostered finish, or outside ordinary hours | 20.2 |
| Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020 | Time beyond the hours, outside the spread of hours or outside the rostered hours in the award, and the 21st and later days worked in 4 weeks under the 152 hour arrangement | 22.2, 15.5(b) |
The words vary between awards. The General Retail award uses the span of ordinary hours: 7:00 am to 9:00 pm Monday to Friday, 7:00 am to 6:00 pm on Saturday and 9:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday, extended to 11:00 pm on all days if the shop trades beyond those times (clauses 15.1 and 15.2). Hours outside the span are overtime for full-time, part-time and casual employees alike, other than shiftwork (clause 21.2). The Restaurant award defines the spread of hours differently, as the period between when an employee starts and finishes work within any 24 hours (clause 2), which is how its 12 hour limit on split shifts is measured.
Part-time employees
Part-time overtime can start well before full-time overtime, because the rostered or agreed hours are a trigger on their own.
| Award | Overtime is payable for | Clauses |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant Industry Award 2020 | Time beyond 38 hours a week or the roster cycle average, beyond the daily maximum in clause 15.1, or beyond the employee’s rostered hours | 10.13(b) |
| Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 | Time beyond 38 hours a week or the roster cycle average, beyond the daily maximum in clause 15.2, or beyond the employee’s rostered hours | 10.13(b) |
| General Retail Industry Award 2020 | Hours beyond the guaranteed hours as agreed or varied, and hours outside the span of ordinary hours | 21.2, 10.8 |
| Fast Food Industry Award 2020 | Hours beyond 38 a week or the 4 week average, 5 days in a week (or 6 as for full-time), 11 ordinary hours a day, the agreed hours or the hours as varied, or the regular pattern where no variation is recorded; and hours before the rostered start, after the rostered finish or outside ordinary hours | 20.3, 10.9 |
| Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020 | Time beyond 38 hours a week or the roster cycle average, or beyond the employee’s rostered hours | 10.13(b) |
The difference matters most when a part-time employee agrees to stay back. Under the General Retail award, a variation for a particular shift recorded in writing before the end of that shift keeps the extra hours at ordinary rates, as the award’s own example shows (clause 10.6). Under the Fast Food award, the trigger becomes the hours as varied, provided the variation is recorded in writing (clauses 10.5, 10.7 and 20.3). The Restaurant, Hospitality and Clubs awards have no clause like these in their part-time provisions, and clause 10.13(b) of each pays overtime rates for time beyond the employee’s rostered hours. If you are unsure whether agreeing a roster change in advance alters that, ask the Fair Work Ombudsman before relying on it.
Casual employees
For casuals, the awards count overtime from daily and weekly totals, and the General Retail award adds the span of ordinary hours.
| Award | Overtime is payable for | Clauses |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant Industry Award 2020 | Time beyond 12 hours in a day or shift, or beyond 38 hours a week or the average over a roster cycle of up to 4 weeks | 11.2, 11.5 |
| Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 | Time beyond 12 hours in a day or shift, or beyond 38 hours a week or the average over a roster cycle of up to 4 weeks | 11.2, 11.4 |
| General Retail Industry Award 2020 | Hours beyond 38 ordinary hours a week or the roster cycle average, outside the span of ordinary hours, or beyond 11 hours on one day of the week and 9 hours on any other day | 21.2 |
| Fast Food Industry Award 2020 | Hours beyond 38 ordinary hours a week or the roster cycle average, or beyond 11 ordinary hours on any one day | 20.4 |
| Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020 | Time beyond 12 hours in a day or shift, or beyond 38 hours a week or the average over a roster cycle of up to 4 weeks | 11.4 |
Days off and extra days
Some triggers are about days rather than hours.
- Work on a rostered day off. The Restaurant award pays the overtime rate for any time an employee is required to work on a rostered day off, with a minimum of 4 hours unless the work is part of, or continuous on, a normal roster that started the day before (clauses 23.1(d) and (e)). The Hospitality award has a similar rule for full-time and part-time employees (clauses 28.2(d) to (f)), and the Clubs award sets a minimum payment of 4 hours for a rostered day off (clause 22.3(e)).
- A sixth day. Under the Fast Food award, hours worked by a full-time or part-time employee beyond 5 days in a week are overtime, unless it is 6 days and ordinary hours in the following week fall on no more than 4 days (clauses 20.2 and 20.3).
- Days beyond the cycle. Under an arrangement of 152 hours in 4 weeks, the Hospitality award pays each day worked beyond 20 at the overtime rate (clause 15.1(d)(ii)), and the Clubs award pays the 21st and later days at overtime rates (clause 15.5(b)).
- Roster conditions in retail. The General Retail award limits ordinary hours to 5 days a week, or 6 in one week of a two week cycle with no more than 4 in the other, and caps consecutive days of work at 6 (clause 15.7). For full-time employees, hours outside the roster conditions in clause 15 are overtime (clause 21.2).
A worked example: three triggers in one week
A bistro covered by the Restaurant Industry Award works on a one week roster cycle. Next week, three things happen that the roster did not plan for.
| Employee | Rostered | What happened | Overtime hours | Clause |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam, full-time cook | Monday to Thursday 9:00 to 17:30 and Friday 9:00 to 15:30, each with a 30 minute meal break: 38 hours | Stays until 18:30 on Thursday to finish prep for a function | 1 | 23.1(a) |
| Mia, part-time server | Monday to Friday 11:00 to 15:00: 20 hours, inside availability of 10:00 to 16:00 | Stays until 15:30 on Friday for a late table | 0.5 | 10.13(b)(iii) |
| Leo, casual kitchen hand | Five shifts of 9:00 to 17:30, each with a 30 minute meal break: 40 hours | Works the week as rostered | 2 | 11.2(b), 11.5 |
| Total | 3.5 |
Sam’s rostered week was 38 hours: four days of 8 hours and a Friday of 6. The extra hour on Thursday is outside his rostered hours, so it is overtime even though his week only reaches 39 hours. Mia’s extra half hour is overtime on a day she works 4.5 hours, because it is beyond her rostered hours. Leo’s days are 8 hours each, well under 12, but with a one week cycle his last 2 hours of the week pass 38. Had the bistro used a two week cycle and rostered Leo for 36 hours the following week, his average would have been exactly 38, and those 2 hours would not have been overtime.
Under clause 23.3, overtime worked on any day stands alone from overtime on any other day, which matters because the overtime rate in Table 7 of clause 23.4 steps up after the first 2 hours on weekdays and Saturdays. The Hospitality and Clubs awards also treat each day’s overtime as standing alone (clauses 28.3 and 22.4), the Fast Food award calculates its Monday to Saturday overtime rates on the basis that each day’s work stands alone (clause 20.6(b)), and the General Retail award says overtime is calculated on a daily basis (clause 21.2(b)). Rates are on the Restaurant Award pay rates page, and the overtime hours calculator splits a week into ordinary and overtime hours against the limits you set.
Can you require overtime?
An award that pays overtime does not make every request for it reasonable. The General Retail, Fast Food and Hospitality awards say an employer may require an employee to work reasonable overtime at overtime rates, subject to section 62 of the Fair Work Act, and that an employee may refuse overtime that is unreasonable (clause 21.1, clause 20.1 and clause 28.1). The Clubs award says an employer may require reasonable overtime at overtime rates (clause 22.1). The factors the awards list include the risk to health and safety, the employee’s personal circumstances including family responsibilities, the needs of the business, whether the employee receives overtime or penalty rates, the notice given and the usual patterns of work in the industry.
The Fair Work Ombudsman adds that health and safety issues, like fatigue, need to be considered and managed if an employee has to work overtime. Ask as early as you can, say how long the extra time is likely to run, and take a refusal seriously when the hours would be unreasonable for that person. Some awards also let an employee take paid time off instead of overtime pay, as the Ombudsman’s page on overtime pay explains.
Breaks after overtime
A late finish can move the next start. Under the Restaurant award, an employee who works overtime and is next rostered to start less than 8 hours later may delay their start until 8 hours after finishing without loss of pay, and if they do not get an 8 hour break they are paid at the overtime rate until they do (clause 23.2). Under the Clubs award, an employee who has not had 10 hours’ rest before their next regular starting time is allowed at least 10 hours’ rest without deduction of pay, or is paid at overtime rates until they have had at least 8 hours’ rest (clause 22.5). The Restaurant award also requires an additional 20 minute paid rest break when an employee works more than 2 hours of overtime after their rostered hours (clause 16.8).
Find where overtime starts for your team
- Confirm the awardUse Find my award for each group of employees, and check whether an enterprise agreement applies instead.
- Write down ordinary hoursFor each employee, note the daily maximum, the weekly total or average and the roster cycle, the span or spread of hours, and for part-time employees the agreed or rostered hours.
- Mark the day triggersNote rostered days off and any limit on the days worked in a week or cycle.
- Roster inside the linesBuild the week so that any overtime is a decision you made. How to prevent accidental overtime sets out the checks.
- Compare with the timesheetsCheck the hours actually worked against the triggers before the pay run, because a late finish or an extra shift changes the answer.
Roster Flow helps with the last step: 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.
Questions
Is overtime anything over 38 hours a week?
Not only. 38 hours is the maximum weekly hours limit in the National Employment Standards, but awards also use daily limits, rostered hours, spans of hours and part-time agreed hours as triggers, which can start overtime well before 38 hours.
Is there a daily limit before overtime starts?
Yes, alongside the other triggers. Ordinary hours can be up to 11.5 a day under the Restaurant and Hospitality awards, 11 under the Fast Food award, and 9, or 11 on one day a week, under the General Retail award. Casuals under the Restaurant, Hospitality and Clubs awards reach overtime after 12 hours in a day or shift.
Is staying back after a rostered finish overtime?
It can be. Under the Restaurant award, work outside a full-time employee’s rostered hours is overtime (clause 23.1(a)), and under the Fast Food award hours after the rostered finish are overtime for full-time and part-time employees (clauses 20.2(c) and 20.3(c)).
When does overtime start for a casual?
Under the Restaurant, Hospitality and Clubs awards, after 12 hours in a day or shift, or 38 hours a week or the average over a roster cycle of up to 4 weeks. The General Retail and Fast Food awards use 38 ordinary hours with their own daily limits.
Do award-free employees get overtime rates?
The Fair Work Ombudsman says employees not covered by an award or agreement are not entitled to a higher rate of pay for overtime under the Fair Work Act. Their employment contract may still set one.
Can an employee refuse overtime?
Yes, if the additional hours are unreasonable. That depends on factors including health and safety, personal and family circumstances, the needs of the business, the notice given and the usual patterns of work in the industry.
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: when overtime applies
- Fair Work Ombudsman: maximum weekly hours
- Fair Work Ombudsman: overtime pay
- Fair Work Ombudsman: find my award