Can I ask a part time employee to work additional hours?

Part time employees can be asked to work reasonable additional hours. This could be to fill in for an extra day to cover another employee’s absence, to attend a meeting, to go to training or other work related purposes. An employee may refuse if the additional hours are not reasonable. The NES (Section 62 (3)) provides guidance when determining if additional hours are unreasonable.

The payment for the additional work will depend on the Award (or Agreement), and the time of day that the work is performed. Additional work is NOT paid at a casual rate – it is paid at the employee’s ordinary rate of pay, or at an overtime rate (if applicable to the circumstances).