Hours of work, breaks and rosters
Awards, enterprise agreements and other registered agreements have rules about an employee's hours of work, breaks, rosters and rostered days off.
On this page:
- Hours of work
- When overtime applies
- Right to disconnect
- Breaks
- Rosters
- Rostered days off
- Tools and resources
- Related information
- Have a workplace problem?
Hours of work
Ordinary hours are an employee's normal and regular hours of work, which don't attract overtime rates.
Ordinary hours can be different for full-time, part-time and casual employees.
The time of the day ordinary hours are worked is called the spread of hours (for example, between 7am – 7pm). Time worked outside the spread of ordinary hours can attract overtime rates.
See Hours of work for more information on:
- maximum and minimum hours of work
- the spread of hours in your award.
When overtime applies
Overtime is when an employee works extra time. It can include time worked:
- on top of the ordinary hours of work
- outside the agreed number of hours
- outside the spread of ordinary hours.
For information about when overtime applies in your award, see When overtime applies.
Right to disconnect
For small business employers and their employees, the right to disconnect provisions apply from 26 August 2025.
Employees of non-small business employers have the right to refuse contact outside their working hours, unless doing so is unreasonable. This means an employee can refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact (or attempted contact) from an employer or a third party.
When determining whether an employee’s refusal is unreasonable, several factors must be considered.
Awards, enterprise agreements and other registered agreements can also include additional right to disconnect provisions.
Learn more at Right to disconnect.
Breaks
Awards, enterprise agreements and other registered agreements provide for paid and unpaid rest breaks and meal breaks for employees.
Awards and registered agreements can also provide for a minimum amount of time off between the end of one shift and the start of another.
For more information about the minimum break requirements in your industry, see Breaks.
Rosters
A roster is a timetable that shows the days and times employees are required to work.
Awards, enterprise agreements and other registered agreements can set rules about changing rosters and how and when employees are given rosters.
For more information about rosters in your award, see Rosters.
Rostered days off
A rostered day off (RDO) is a day in a roster period that an employee doesn't have to work.
An employee's day off can be paid or unpaid, depending on how RDOs are set out in an award or registered agreement.
For more information about RDOs in your award, see Rostered days off.
