What am I entitled to?
The National Employment Standards (NES), together with an award, enterprise agreement, contract of employment and legislation sets out your entitlement to:
Under the NES, employees may also be entitled to a Fair Work Information Statement, flexible working arrangements and paid public holidays.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has an online Pay and Conditions Tool (PACT) which can calculate what wages apply to your award and can also provide other useful information such as leave entitlements. For more information, go to the PACT website.
Wages
When you work for an employer, you are entitled to be paid for that work. That payment is referred to as wages. The wages you are entitled to will depend on the minimum wage, your contract of employment, your award or enterprise agreement. Your employer must pay you regularly.
In many cases, if you work more than standard hours, you are entitled to be paid extra, sometimes at an hourly rate greater than your normal hourly rate. This is called overtime.
If you work on weekends, public holidays or hours outside the normal work hours, you may be entitled to be paid at a greater hourly rate as well. These rates are called penalty rates.
You may also be entitled to allowances for meals, tools, clothing and working in extreme conditions. Generally, these entitlements are paid with your wages.
You may be entitled to commissions or bonuses when you reach certain set targets in relation to your job. For example, you may receive a bonus for getting a set number of jobs done in a 12-month period. You may be entitled to a commission for every unit of your employer's product that you sell. Some employees who receive commissions are also entitled to a minimum wage.
Your entitlement to commissions or bonuses will usually depend on your contract of employment, award or enterprise agreement. These entitlements may be paid with your wages or at a specified time.
For more information, see
Wages.
Leave
An employee may be entitled to some of the following types of leave:
-
annual leave
-
personal/carer's and compassionate leave
- family and domestic violence leave
-
community service leave
-
parental leave
-
long service leave.
The national employment standards, an award, enterprise agreement, contract of employment and the employee's employment status will determine what leave they are entitled to.
For more information, see
Leave.
Superannuation
Superannuation is money set aside for your retirement. Your employer is required by Commonwealth legislation to pay a compulsory superannuation contribution of 10.5% of your wages to the Australian Taxation Office. Your employer should pay superannuation to your superannuation fund at least once every three months.
For more information, see
Superannuation.
Payment in lieu of notice
If you are dismissed from your job, your employer will in most cases have to give you notice. The employer can choose to pay you your wages for the period of notice instead. This is called 'payment in lieu of notice'. The amount of notice you must be given or paid will depend on your length of service and any award, enterprise agreement or contract of employment that you are covered by.
For more information, see
Payment in lieu of notice.
Redundancy pay
An employee's position is made redundant when their employer no longer needs a role to be performed, or no longer needs the same number of employees to perform certain tasks. If your job is made redundant, you may be entitled to redundancy pay. Whether you are entitled to redundancy pay, and how much, will depend on the size of your employer's business, as well as any award, enterprise agreement or employment contract you are covered by.
For more information, see
Redundancy pay.