Human Resources

Overtime

Public Service

General

Overtime is defined as the hours worked at the direction of the employer that are additional to an employee's agreed normal hours of duty (which for a full time employee is 76 hours in a fortnight). Part time employees working overtime will be paid their normal hourly rate both before 38 hours have been worked in the week and within the 'span of hours', but will be paid overtime rates for hours worked in excess of 38 hours in any one week or outside the 'span of hours'.

A manager may require an employee to work reasonable overtime. As far as practicable, work will be organised so that the requirement to work overtime is not regular.

Reasonable notice of the requirement to work overtime is to be given to the employee. Where reasonable notice has not been given, other than in emergency situations, the employee may refuse the overtime work where the working of the overtime would impose personal hardship or interfere with the employee's personal commitments. An employee must be paid (unless time in lieu is agreed) for a minimum of three hours when he/she is either recalled to duty or on stand-alone overtime.

An employee classified up to and including VPS Grade 4, or classified up to and including Allied Health Grade 3 or Legal Officer Solicitor Grade 3 or Nurse Grade 4B, will be compensated for approved overtime worked either by the granting of time in lieu equal to the overtime worked or by payment.

Any overtime to be worked and the form of compensation must be determined prior to the work being undertaken. Where a manager directs an employee to undertake overtime, payment must be made at the appropriate rate unless the employee wishes to be compensated by way of time in lieu. Where an employee undertakes work out of normal hours that does not have the manager's prior approval compensation will not be automatic.

Where overtime is necessary, it should be arranged as far as possible so that employee can use their normal means of transport to get home. Taking into account the safety of the employee, other arrangements may be put in place which involve the use of taxis or other means of transport. Such arrangements should be organised so as to minimise costs, eg. by taxi sharing.

An employee is entitled to a rest period of at least eight hours continuous duration in each 24-hour period other than in emergency situations. An employee (other than Incident Response employees required to work, as a result of an emergency situation, during or after a rest period is due) will receive overtime compensation in accordance with the provisions of this section for all time worked until a rest period of at least eight hours continuous duration is taken.

Overtime rates

From Monday to Saturday, overtime is paid at the rate of one and a half times the employee's ordinary rate of pay for the first three hours of overtime worked on any one day and at twice the ordinary rate of pay for any overtime worked thereafter.  On Sundays, overtime is paid at twice the ordinary rate of pay.

Where a public holiday falls on a Monday to Friday, overtime is paid at one and a half times the ordinary rate of pay for the first 7.6 hours (i.e. normal daily hours) and at two and a half times the ordinary rate of pay thereafter. Where a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday and no other day is granted in lieu, overtime is paid at two and a half times the ordinary rate of pay.

For a part time employee working overtime, he/she will be paid their normal hourly rate both before 38 hours have been worked in the week and within the 'span of hours'.  For any overtime worked in excess of 38 hours in any one week or outside the 'span of hours', the above provisions will apply.

Payment of overtime

The ordinary hourly rate of payment for an employee entitled to be paid overtime will be calculated on the lower of either the employees's salary or the highest pay point within VPS Grade 3, Value Range 1.

For an employee to be paid overtime, their manager must sign and validate an Overtime form and forward the form to Corporate HR Services.

For further information about an employee's terms and conditions in relation to overtime refer to Clause 35 in Section 1 of the Victorian Public Service Agreement 2006 (2009 extended and varied version) and and Clause 31 of the Nurses (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development) Agreement 2009.  

Childcare costs

Where an employee is directed by the manager to work outside his/her ordinary hours of work and where less than 24 hours notice of the requirement to perform such overtime work has been given, the employee will be reimbursed for reasonable childcare expenses incurred.  Evidence of expenditure (that is, a receipt) incurred by the employees must be provided to the manager as soon as possible after the working of such overtime.

Overtime for Incident Response Officers

An Incident Response Officer receives an annual allowance in lieu of payment for overtime worked and any other penalty payments as set out below. The annual allowance is 8% of the employee's salary and is paid on a fortnightly basis.

Overtime is any time worked which is additional to the hours of work for an Incident Response Officer set out in Clause 1 of Appendix 5 of the VPS Agreement 2006 and which is approved by the employee's manager. Where an employee is in receipt of the annual allowance in lieu of overtime, he/she may be required to work up to 100 hours overtime during a 12 month period without any additional payment. All overtime worked by the employee is deducted from the 100 hours. The minimum amount that may be deducted is two hours for each period of overtime except where the overtime commences immediately following the completion of a shift that is part of the employee's work cycle.

Hours in excess of the 100 hours overtime must be agreed between the employee and their manager.  In these instances, the employee may elect to take time off in lieu at the rate of one hour for each overtime hour worked at a time agreed between the employee and the manager or receive payment in accordance with Department policy.

Where commuted allowances are prescribed, the following provisions shall apply in relation to payment of such allowances during periods of leave:

  • Commuted standby allowances shall be paid during periods of long service leave, annual leave and during the first four weeks' sick leave (including accident compensation leave) taken in aggregate in a calendar year and shall be included for calculation of pay in lieu of long service leave.
  • Commuted overtime allowances shall be paid during periods of annual leave and during the first four weeks' sick leave (including accident compensation leave) taken in aggregate in a calendar year, but shall not be paid during periods of long service leave or included in calculation of pay in lieu of long service leave.

For more information see Appendix 5 of the VPS Agreement 2006.

Stand-by allowance

An employee who, by reason of the nature of their duties, is required to be on stand-by and available to return within a specified maximum period of time to undertake intermittent duty outside their normal hours of duty will be compensated at the appropriate rates detailed in Clause 30.5 of the VPS Agreement 2006.  Employees in the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will be compensated pursuant to Part 2 of Appendix 5 of the VPS Agreement 2006. This allowance constitutes total compensation for any intermittent duty in connection with stand-by performed for up to one hours duration. An employee who is required to return to work when on stand-by will, after the first hour, be compensated for each hour or part hour worked, in accordance with normal overtime provisions.

Stand-by allowances do not apply to Incident Response Officers employed in the Department.

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