Australian employers urged to check daylight savings rules before gaining ‘free’ hour of work

The end of daylight savings time can be a headache for workers who forget to change their alarms. For some, even greater frustrations await.

Night-shift staff working when the clocks jump back an hour on the morning of Sunday, April 2, may find themselves working an extra hour without pay, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman.

In a fresh reminder to employers and their staff ahead of the seasonal adjustment, the Ombudsman says that unless specified otherwise by an award or registered agreement, staff payments are made “by the clock”.

Simply put, some night-shift staff working when the clock jumps back at 3am to 2am will be paid for their shift as it is written down.

As an example, the Ombudsman says that unlucky staff working between 8.30pm on Saturday night and 5am Sunday morning, with an unpaid half-hour break, will only be paid for eight hours of work despite completing nine hours on the job.

Some important caveats exist. Daylight savings only operates in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria, leaving the rest of the country to operate as per usual.

Vitally, the Fair Work Ombudsman also notes workers will only be paid “by the clock” should their underlying award or enterprise agreement not explicitly cover daylight savings.

For example, the Fast Food Industry Award 2020, covering thousands of night-shift workers nationwide, contains no specific reference to daylight savings time.

Some awards even enshrine “by the clock” payments.

The Vehicle Repair, Services and Retail Award 2020, for example, states that:

For work performed which spans the start or finish of a system of daylight saving as prescribed by relevant State or territory legislation, an employee will be paid according to adjusted time (i.e. the time on the clock at the beginning of work and the time on the clock at the end of work).

Some respite exists for workers covered by those rules.

Should they work overnight on Sunday, October 2, when daylight savings time kicks back in, they could be paid for an ‘extra’ hour of work.

Business owners with further questions have been advised to assess their relevant industry award or workplace agreement.