National Employment Standards

The National Employment Standards (NES) are the minimum employment entitlements that have to be provided to all employees.

On this page:

Minimum entitlements for employees

The National Employment Standards make up the minimum entitlements for employees in Australia.

Other workplace instruments can't provide for conditions that are less than the National Employment Standards. This includes an:

These also can’t exclude the NES.

Employers have to give every new employee a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement (the FWIS) when they start their new job.

Employers also have to give every new casual employee a copy of the Casual Employment Information Statement (the CEIS) when they start employment, and at set times throughout their employment.

List of minimum NES entitlements

The minimum entitlements of the NES are:

NES videos

Our short videos help explain the different NES entitlements. Watch our NES videos on our YouTube channel.

These videos are also available with an Auslan interpreter on our Auslan page.

Who the NES covers

All employees in the national workplace relations system are covered by the NES. This is regardless of the award, registered agreement or employment contract that applies.

Casual employees and the NES

Casual employees only get some NES entitlements including:

In some states and territories, long serving casuals are eligible for long service leave.

Casual employees can request flexible working arrangements and take unpaid parental leave if:

  • they have been employed by their employer as a casual employee on a regular and systematic basis over at least 12 months, and
  • they reasonably expect to continue being employed by the employer on a regular and systematic basis.

See Casual employees for more information.

Source reference: Fair Work Act 2009 s.61

Tools and resources

Related information

Have a workplace problem?

Problems can happen in any workplace.

To have a productive and peaceful work environment, it's important to prevent problems from happening in the first place.

Check out our Preventing workplace problems page for more details.

If you already have a workplace problem, use our tools and information to help you resolve it.

Check out our Fixing a workplace problem section for practical information about:

  • working out if there is a problem
  • speaking with your employer or employee about fixing the problem
  • getting help from us if you can't fix the problem.

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