Award and agreement free wages and conditions
Most employees are covered by an award or registered agreement, but a few jobs and industries are not.
On this page:
- How to check if an employee is award and agreement free:
- Minimum wages and conditions for employees who are award and agreement free:
- Tools and resources
- Related information
When an employee is award or agreement free
When an employee is not covered by an award or agreement they are considered to be award and agreement free. Award and agreement free employees may have an employment contract. They are also entitled to at least the:
Check if an employee is agreement free
To find out if an employee is covered by a registered agreement:
- ask the employer
- find an enterprise agreement at the Fair Work Commission website.
If there is an agreement, check the coverage and classification clauses to see if it covers the type of work the employee is doing.
If there is no agreement that covers the employee’s job, the employee is agreement free.
Check if an employee is award free
To be covered by an award, an employee must:
- work in an industry or business covered by the award
- work in a job classification that is covered by the award
- not be in a job or industry that is excluded from the award.
If there is no award that covers the employee’s job the employee is award free.
Get help figuring out what award applies on our Awards page.
For information on how to read and apply job classifications in awards, see Award classifications.
Example: When an employee is award and agreement free
Nerida is employed as senior regional manager of three hotels in Melbourne. Thomas is employed as a hotel manager at one hotel.
The employer doesn’t have a registered agreement.
The Hospitality Award covers hospitality employers and their employees who have jobs listed in the classification definitions of the award. The classifications cover some management staff, but not senior managers.
Thomas is covered by the Hospitality Award because the duties of his role are covered in the classification definitions.
Nerida isn’t covered by the Hospitality Award. Even though it covers managers in the hospitality industry, it doesn’t cover her particular job because it doesn’t cover senior managers. She has checked that her job is not covered by any other award.
Nerida’s role is, therefore, award and agreement free. Her entitlements come from her employment contract and the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act), including the NES.
Myth: all managers and professionals are award free
Many managers and professionals have not traditionally been covered by awards. This includes accountants and finance, marketing, legal, human resources, public relations and information technology specialists.
Check the industry definition and job classifications of each award carefully as some managers and professionals are covered by an award.
After checking relevant industry awards you should also check:
If you need help understanding the classifications under these awards, Contact us.
Myth: employees who sign a contract aren’t covered by an award
A contract can’t make employees worse off than their minimum legal entitlements. This means that the entitlements in the award that applies to them, and the entitlements in the NES, keep applying, even if they sign a contract that gives them less.
Example:
If an employee signs a contract that says they get 5 days of sick leave per year, they’re still entitled to 10 days paid personal/carer’s leave (which includes sick leave) from the National Employment Standards, plus any other entitlements they get from their award.
High income employees
Awards don't apply to high income employees. A high income employee is an employee who:
- has accepted a written guarantee of annual earnings
- is guaranteed to earn an annual amount which is more than the high income threshold. The high income threshold changes each year. From 1 July 2024, it is $175,000.
A guarantee of annual earnings can be accepted before an employee starts with an employer.
To calculate an employee’s earnings to see if they meet the threshold, include:
- the employee’s wages
- the agreed value of non-monetary benefits.
When calculating an employee’s earnings to see if they meet the threshold don’t include:
- payments which can’t be calculated in advance such as:
- commissions
- incentive-based payments and bonuses
- overtime (unless the overtime is guaranteed)
- reimbursements
- statutory superannuation contributions.
For more information see High income employees & a guarantee annual earnings.
Pay
The pay rate of an award and agreement free employee:
- must be at least equal to the national minimum wage
- may be set by an employment contract.
From 1 July 2024 the national minimum wage for employees who are 21 years old and over is:
- $24.10 per hour, or $915.90 per week for full and part time workers
- $30.13 an hour (this includes a casual loading of 25%) for casual workers.
These rates apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2024.
Juniors
Award and agreement free juniors get paid a percentage of the National Minimum Wage, using the age-based percentage scale in the National Minimum Wage order. All other entitlements come from the Fair Work Act, including the NES.
Minimum rates for award and agreement free junior employees are outlined below. These rates apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2024.
| Age | Full time and part-time | Casual (+25% of the base rate) |
|---|---|---|
| Under 16 years | $8.87 | $11.09 |
| 16 years | $11.40 | $14.25 |
| 17 years | $13.93 | $17.41 |
| 18 years | $16.46 | $20.58 |
| 19 years | $19.88 | $24.85 |
| 20 years | $23.55 | $29.44 |
Trainees and apprentices
Pay rates for award and agreement free trainees and apprentices are based on the Miscellaneous Award. All other entitlements come from the FW Act, including the NES.
To find pay rates for award and agreement free trainees and apprentices, use our Pay and Conditions Tool and select the Miscellaneous Award. Go to the Pay and Conditions Tool.
Employees with disability
There are 2 special national minimum wages for award and agreement free employees with disability.
For details see Employees with disability pay rates.
Piece rates and commission payments
Award and agreement free employees can be paid piece rates or commission payments. They still need to be paid at least the national minimum wage.
For information about how to pay piece rates to an employee see Piece rates and commission payments.
Hours of work, breaks and overtime
Full-time, part-time and casual employees have different patterns of hours. For all employees, hours of work which are not overtime are called ordinary hours.
This section explains how ordinary hours are set for award and agreement free employees.
Agreed ordinary hours of work
The ordinary hours of work for an award and agreement free employee are:
- no more than an average of 38 hours per week
- otherwise open to agreement between the employer and employee.
If an employee is not full-time and usually works less hours than the hours they have agreed to, their ordinary weekly hours are the lesser of:
- 38 hours
- the employee’s usual weekly hours of work.
When there are no agreed ordinary hours of work
If there is no agreement, the ordinary weekly hours are:
- full-time employees – 38 hours
- all other employees – their usual weekly hours of work or 38 hours (whichever is less).
If an employee doesn’t have usual weekly hours and isn’t a full-time employee work out their ordinary weekly hours by:
- adding up the total hours the employee has worked in the past 4 weeks
- dividing by 4.
If the employee has worked for less than 4 weeks:
- add up the total hours the employee has worked
- divide by the number of completed weeks.
Averaging of hours
An averaging of hours arrangement means that the actual hours worked each week can be different and can include additional hours, provided the additional hours are reasonable.
Find out what factors need to be considered when deciding whether additional hours are reasonable in When overtime applies.
Example: Averaging of hours over 4 weeks
Mai agrees with her employer to work an average of 20 ordinary hours each week over a period of 4 weeks.
She actually works:
- 15 hours in week 1
- 25 hours in week 2
- 10 hours in week 3
- 30 hours in week 4
15 + 25 + 10 + 30 / 4 weeks = 20 hours per week on average.
An averaging of hours arrangement must:
- be agreed to by the employer and employee
- be in writing
- average the hours over no more than 26 weeks
- agree that the employee’s average weekly hours will be no more than:
- full-time employees – 38 hours
- all other employees – their usual weekly hours of work or 38 hours (whichever is less).
When overtime applies
Award and agreement free employees don’t get a higher pay rate when they work overtime hours, unless their employment contract says so.
Meal and rest breaks
Award and agreement free employees don’t have any set meal and rest breaks. Meal and rest breaks may be provided for in:
- an employment contract
- workplace health and safety legislation.
Workplace health and safety legislation generally says that an employer must provide a safe work environment for employees. This may include giving employees meal and rest breaks.
Check Safework Australia for guidance on taking breaks to manage the risk of fatigue at work.
Public holidays
An employer and an award and agreement free employee can agree that the employee will work on a public holiday and take another paid day off instead.
Learn more about working on Public holidays.
Leave
Annual leave
Full-time and part-time award and agreement free employees get 4 weeks annual leave each year.
Annual leave for shiftworkers
Shiftworkers (other than casuals) get 5 weeks of paid annual leave each year.
An award and agreement free employee is a shiftworker if the employee:
- is employed in a business where shifts are continuously rostered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- is regularly rostered to work those shifts
- regularly works on Sundays and public holidays.
Taking annual leave
An employer and an award and agreement free employee may agree on when and how paid annual leave may be taken by the employee. They can agree, for example, that:
- it may be taken before it has been accrued
- it must be taken within a fixed period of time after it is accrued
- a certain period of notice must be given before taking leave
- extra time on leave can be taken for the same overall pay, for example, 4 weeks leave at half-pay instead of 2 weeks leave at full pay.
Often these agreements are set out in company policies or an employment contract.
Direction to take annual leave
An employer can require an award and agreement free employee to take paid annual leave if the requirement is reasonable. Examples when it may be reasonable include:
- the employee’s leave balance is excessive
- the employer’s business is being shut down temporarily (for example, between Christmas and New Year).
Cashing out annual leave
An award and agreement free employee can make an agreement with their employer to get an extra payment instead of taking leave (called ‘cashing out’) if the:
- agreement is in writing
- employer pays the employee the same amount the employee would get if they had taken the leave
- employee has at least 4 weeks left in their leave balance after the rest is cashed out.
Other leave
Learn more about other Leave, including personal, parental, compassionate and community service leave.
Ending employment
Notice
An award and agreement free employee doesn’t have to give notice to an employer before resigning. An employment contract may require an employee to give notice.
Find out how much notice an employer needs to give to an employee and what must be included in an employee’s final pay on our Notice and final pay page.
Redundancy
When calculating the amount of redundancy pay, an award and agreement free employee’s service before 1 January 2010 will only be counted if the employment contract provided for redundancy pay before then.
An employer has to pay out at least the following minimum redundancy pay.
| Period of continuous service | Redundancy pay |
|---|---|
| At least 1 year but less than 2 years | 4 weeks |
| At least 2 years but less than 3 years | 6 weeks |
| At least 3 years but less than 4 years | 7 weeks |
| At least 4 years but less than 5 years | 8 weeks |
| At least 5 years but less than 6 years | 10 weeks |
| At least 6 years but less than 7 years | 11 weeks |
| At least 7 years but less than 8 years | 13 weeks |
| At least 8 years but less than 9 years | 14 weeks |
| At least 9 years but less than 10 years | 16 weeks |
| At least 10 years | 12 weeks |
Redundancy pay is paid at the employee's base pay rate for their ordinary hours of work, but doesn't include:
- incentive-based payments and bonuses
- loadings
- monetary allowances
- overtime or penalty rates
- any other separately identifiable amounts.
Any outstanding entitlements also need to be paid out including annual leave and long service leave that the employee hasn't taken.
To find out when an employee must be paid redundancy pay, visit our Redundancy page.
Unfair dismissal
Eligible employees can make an unfair dismissal application.
High income employees can make an unfair dismissal application if they’re:
- covered by an agreement
- capable of being covered by an award even though award conditions don’t apply.
High income employees who aren’t covered by an award or agreement can’t make an unfair dismissal application.
Visit our Unfair dismissal page for more information on unfair dismissal.
- Source reference:
- Fair Work Act 2009 s.20 (Ordinary hours), s.328 - 333 (High income employees), s.64 (Averaging of hours), ss.87(3) (Annual leave for shiftworkers), s.94 (Cashing out and taking paid annual leave) s.117 (Requirement for notice of termination or payment in lieu), s.119 (Redundancy pay)
- Fair Work Regulations 2009 r.1.11 (meaning of ordinary hours)
Tools and resources
- National Employment Standards
- Online learning centre
- Leave Calculator
- Best practice guides
- Pay and Conditions Tool
